Greenhouse gases, explained

Climate change encompasses not only the rising average temperatures we refer to as global warming but also extreme weather events, shifting wildlife populations and and habitats, rising seas, and a range of other impacts.Governments and organizations around the world such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations body that tracks the latest climate change science, are measuring greenhouse gases, tracking their impacts, and implementing solutions.Carbon dioxide (CO2): Carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas, responsible for about three-quarters of emissions. (Read more about greenhouse gas effects via climate change here.)Virtually every sector of the global economy, from manufacturing to agriculture to transportation to power production, contributes greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, so all of them must evolve away from fossil fuels if we are to avoid the worst effects of climate change.