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The evidence that humans are causing climate change, with drastic consequences for life on the planet, is overwhelming, but the question of what to do about it remains controversial. Economics, sociology, and politics are all important factors in planning for the future.
A global conversation that began with concern over warming has now turned to the broader term climate change, preferred by scientists to describe the complex shifts now affecting our planet’s weather and climate systems. Climate change encompasses not only rising average temperatures but also extreme weather events, shifting wildlife populations and habitats, rising seas, and a range of other impacts. All of these changes are emerging as humans continue to add heat-trapping greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
Countries around the world acknowledged the imperative to act on climate change with the Paris Agreement in 2015, making pledges to reduce greenhouse gas pollution. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which synthesizes the scientific consensus on the issue, has set a goal of keeping warming under 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) and pursuing an even lower warming cap of...
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