Earth?s climate is changing rapidly. We know this from billions of observations, documented in thousands of journal papers and texts and summarized every few years by the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The primary cause of that change is the release of carbon dioxide from burning coal, oil and natural gas. International climate talks in Lima this week are laying the foundation for next year?s UN climate summit in Paris. While negotiations about reducing emissions grind on, how much warming are we already locked into? If we stop emitting greenhouse gases tomorrow, why would the temperature continue to rise? Basics of carbon and climate The carbon dioxide that accumulates in the atmosphere insulates the surface of the Earth. It?s like a warming blanket that holds in heat. This energy increases the Earth?s surface average temperature, heats the oceans and melts polar ice. As consequences, sea level rises and weather changes.

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