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Why it matters
Climate Science
The impacts of climate change are well documented by the scientific community. Read more on climate change by preeminent scientific organizations.
Climate change is impossible to hide and ought to be impossible to ignore. The 10 hottest years on record have occurred since 1990. Arctic sea ice has declined to the lowest levels on record and studies suggest that two-thirds of the world’s polar bear population will be gone by 2050. But more than polar bears and ice caps are at risk—climate change endangers all life on our planet.
As average temperature increases, habitats, species and people are threatened by drought, changes in rainfall, altered seasons, and more violent storms and floods. The most obvious and easily measurable impacts of climate change are occurring at the poles and at high latitudes, where the thickness and extent of arctic sea ice is shrinking rapidly, and where montane glaciers are retreating. Scientists have already documented, in many different types of locations, shifts in the distribution and migrations of individual species, and in some places, the actual disappearance of multiple species as atmospheric, terrestrial, and aquatic conditions evolve. There is little doubt that climate change will have pervasive and serious affects worldwide.
Read more on the impacts of climate change
Polar bear, Ursus maritimus, adult with young, Hudson Bay, Canada.
© WWF-Canon / Martin HARVEY
Slowing climate change
Although there has been a great deal of variability in the Earth’s climate over time, many scientists believe that the changes we are seeing cannot be accounted for by natural variability alone. Climate change is a man-made problem. Human activity, primarily the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil - along with deforestation, agriculture, and industrial processes, are responsible for the changes. Every bit of coal, every liter of oil or gas that humans burn adds to the carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere. These greenhouse gases trap heat in the earth’s atmosphere, and have become much more concentrated since the onset of industrialization. Such increases, coupled with the incremental increase of other greenhouse gasses, have the potential to raise global temperatures between 2 ½ and 10°F over the next century. This increase in temperature could cause increases in the temperature and level of the world’s oceans, and a disparate array of impacts on human, plant and animal communities..
Today many governments and scientists agree that the world needs to keep below an average global temperature rise of 2°C (3.4°F) above pre-industrial times (circa 1800). This takes into account that the world has already warmed by 0.7°C since pre-industrial times. The 2°C threshold is based on the best available science, including the fourth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This threshold has been accepted by many governments, including the prime ministers and presidents of all 25 European Union member states.
Read more on slowing climate change
Weisweiler power plant , coal-fired (lignite), run by RWE. Near Aachen in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany . Cooling towers and smoke stacks According to a WWF study, this power plant is number six of the worst climate polluters in Europe.
© WWF-Canon / Andrew KERR
We must act now
The good news is that we can still slow climate change before it becomes too dangerous to manage. The tools for keeping climate change under control are available and affordable today: resistance and resilience strategies to unavoidable impacts can be built into development planning and policies.
Read more on how WWF addresses the impacts of climate change
More on why it matters
News and Updates
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WWF CEO Praises President-Elect Obama For Remarks At Governors Global Climate Summit November 18, 2008
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Dr. Michael Oppenheimer to Speak at World Wildlife Fund November 12, 2008
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WWF Congratulates President-Elect Obama November 04, 2008
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The Coca-Cola System Announces New Global Targets October 30, 2008
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Living Planet Report Details Dangers Of Living Beyond The Environment's Means October 29, 2008
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WWF Experts
Richard Moss
Vice President and Managing Director for Climate Change“Climate change and what we do about it is going to transform the world much more rapidly than people realize. It’s my goal to get us moving to a world we will want, not one we’ll regret leaving for our children and grandchildren.”
Climate witness
Van Beacham is a professional fly fishing guide and lives in northern New Mexico. Van has been fishing since he was 6 years old. Over the years he has witnessed many of the effects that warmer temperatures are having on the river systems and the fish that depend on them.
» Read more
» View All Climate Witness Accounts
Track Polar Bears
Track polar bears in three different areas of the Arctic: Svalbard, Norway; Hudson Bay, Canada and Beaufort Sea, Alaska, US.