Climate change is “real time before our eyes,” says Michael Mann, a professor at Pennsylvania State University and one of the world’s most respected climate scientists.
Mann cites as examples of this reality of our times the intensification of rainfall, a higher frequency of hurricanes and devastating heat waves.
The BBC report summarizes 15 key questions and anwsers to understand climate change.
The term climate change is broader than global warming, which refers only to the rise in temperature. What is called climate change includes temperature, rainfall intensity and extreme weather events such as hurricanes and heat waves.
The greenhouse effect refers to the way the Earth’s atmosphere retains some of the sun’s energy. Solar energy that reflects off the earth’s surface towards space is absorbed by greenhouse gases and reissued in all directions. Scientists say that man is adding to the natural greenhouse gases gases from industry and agriculture (also called emissions), leading to greater retention of solar energy and increasing the temperature of the planet. This is what is commonly called global warming today.
Learn more: https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/geral-50019998