De-forestation is the second biggest cause of atmospheric carbon dioxide, accounting for 18% of world greenhouse gas emissions.  The net loss of forests is 7.3 million hectares per year – twice the size of Belgium - releasing stored carbon in the trees back into the atmosphere.  So the natural ability of forests to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is being reduced; but deforestation is also a major cause of global warming.  And the scale of destruction is increasing.

We are seeing extreme weather with an increase in the severity of storms over a longer season.  We are witnessing droughts with corresponding food shortages and extinction of species.  Melting ice caps and glaciers are a graphic sign of rising temperatures that are leading to rising sea levels and flooding.  Global warming means rising temperatures and changing climatic conditions; but these temperature rises will be spread unevenly across the year and the world.

Global warming increases temperatures and reduces rainfall in many countries.  Increased evaporation will worsen the effects of the droughts.  Droughts are increasingly likely to persist for years in regions that previously enjoyed rainy seasons.  Water sources such as natural springs, oases and mountain streams are drying up; and inland seas and lakes are disappearing.  With summers lasting longer and becoming warmer, water shortages are affecting millions of people, plants and animals.  Conflict over ever scarcer water and food resources is bound to increase.

Perhaps the most visible effects of global warming are the sights of melting ice caps and retreating glaciers.  These events contribute to global warming through the loss of the albedo effect, with land absorbing heat rather than the snow and ice reflecting the radiation.  These land melts are causing sea levels to rise, flooding large areas with loss of habitats resulting in the extinction of both plant and animal species.

The Earth absorbs radiation from the sun to provide heat and energy for life.  A natural layer of atmospheric gases prevents some of the radiation from escaping keeping the planet warm and habitable.  However, too much of this greenhouse gas traps the energy from the sun preventing excessive heat from escaping.  This causes global temperatures to rise called the greenhouse effect.

Our climate system varies through natural cycles of carbon emission and absorption.  The planet has a natural regulation system that can cope with most natural fluctuations that result in changes in temperature or changes in atmospheric gases.  Plants and the oceans, for instance, naturally absorb the carbon released from human and animal respiration and digestion, decaying vegetation, solar activity, volcanoes and fires.  However, our excessive burning of fossil fuels has disturbed this balance.