Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, scientists have observed a direct correlation between the rise in greenhouse gases (most notably carbon) due to human activity and the steady increase in global average temperature.

Today’s scientists and politicians are unanimous: human-caused greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are directly contributing to global warming. The more emissions, the hotter the Earth becomes.

• The Earth’s surface temperature has risen more in the last 20 years than in the last 120 years
• In the 1930s, the carbon dioxide level was below 300 parts per million (ppm). It is now over 382 ppm, the highest figure for 650,000 years
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that if we do not change course we are heading towards irreversible climate change and that we will hit 750 ppm by 2100. This is double today’s concentration and is likely to have a catastrophic effect on global temperatures and life on earth.

Scientific research suggests that, if we reach a critical greenhouse gas ‘tipping point’, nature will begin a process of ‘positive feedback’, which will lead to oceans, land and vegetation emitting even more carbon dioxide – far greater than human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.

Once this tipping point is passed, global warming will continue even if we stop releasing additional greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The Earth's climate is likely to shift into a more volatile state, with different ocean circulation, wind and rainfall patterns. This is irreversible climate change and the implications are potentially catastrophic for life on Earth.