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Explanation of greenhouse effect and enhanced greenhouse effect.

The enhanced greenhouse effect, sometimes referred to as climate change or global warming...

Climate change on Earth is not a new phenomenon; there have been many ice ages and warm periods.

Climate change is altering temperature, precipitation, and sea levels, and will adversely impact humans and natural systems, including water resources, human health, human settlements, ecosystems, and biodiversity.

Warmer water temperatures can result in coral bleaching.

Globally, our climate is undergoing fundamental shifts, both in changing average weather conditions and the frequency of extreme weather events.

Coral bleaching occurs when the zooxanthellae leave the corals—without the nutrients provided by the zooxanthellae, the corals eventually die of starvation and disease.

The estimated contributions from ocean thermal expansion and a then smaller Greenland Ice Sheet imply a contribution also from Antarctica to this higher sea level.

...over the past century, the average height of the sea has risen more consistently—less than a centimetre every year, but those small additions add up.

Global mean sea level has risen about 8–9 inches (21–24 centimetres) since 1880, with about a third of that coming in just the last two and a half decades.

Winds drive ocean currents in the upper 100 meters of the ocean’s surface. However, ocean currents also flow thousands of meters below the surface.

The currents flowing through the ocean, a process called thermohaline circulation, can have an impact on climate.

The oceans are mostly composed of warm salty water near the surface over cold, less salty water in the ocean depths.

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