Climate change can be defined as a change in the earth’s climate system which results in new weather patterns. These patterns can remain for a few decades or even for millions of years.Almost all the energy of our climate system comes from the sun, a rather tiny fraction comes from the earth’s interior. Some of the climate system’s energy is lost to outer space. The outgoing and incoming energy determines the energy budget of the earth.If there is more incoming than outgoing energy, it leads to global warming. If there is more outgoing than incoming energy, it leads to global cooling. Global warming is a serious problem for humanity as well as to the whole environmental system.

1 Increase in the emission of greenhouse gases Through greenhouse gases, heat radiating from the earth to space is trapped. This heat gets absorbed by gases in the atmosphere and leads to the warming of the earth’s surface. Major greenhouse gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and ozone.

2 Aerosols usually have a cooling effect on the earth’s climate since they reflect incoming sunlight. Since the concentration of aerosols has been declining since 1990, the reflection effect of aerosols has been lowered and thus global warming has been increased.

3 There are several harmful effects of deforestation on the environmental system. For example, deforestation can cause a loss in biodiversity and can also indirectly contribute to the global warming problem. Thus, it is crucial to preserve our forests, especially the rainforest.