Spotlight on Climate Change: Climate Change Solutions
Chapter 2 CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF CLIMATE CHANGE 10 Table of Contents Chapter 1 WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE 4 Chapter 3 INVENTIVE SOLUTIONS 14 Chapter 4 LEARNING TO ADAPT 24 You Can Help 29 Glossary 30 Learn More 31 Index 32
Chapter 1 WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE We live on the most amazing place in our galaxy Earth Take a deep breath You inhaled oxygen nitrogen and carbon dioxide These gases enable us to breathe and live We are on the only planet in our solar system with an atmosphere that is known to support life When the balance of these gases changes over time so does the weather on Earth This is climate change 4
Earth's atmosphere is filled with many gases and is about 300 miles 480 km thick It surrounds Earth and protects it from the sun's powerful heat and radiation The atmosphere has five layers They keep Earth both warm and cool exosphere thermosphere mesosphere stratosphere troposphere A diagram showing the layers of Earth's atmosphere 5
