Climate change refers to the phenomenon of global warming that occurs when excess greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere.

Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane act like a blanket, trapping the sun's warmth and thereby making life on Earth possible.

Over the last century, increased industrialisation and energy consumption has led to significantly higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. Human actions - particularly the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) and land clearing - are increasing the concentrations of these gases, creating the prospect of significant global climate change. This is known as the enhanced greenhouse effect.

It is widely accepted that the enhanced greenhouse effect will raise the Earth's surface temperature. It is hard to predict what the precise impacts of global warming will be and where they will occur because the global climate is a complicated system. But scientists believe this will result in reduction of rainfall in some areas and more frequent severe weather events such as storms and floods.