Why Is There More Carbon Dioxide Today Than Ever Before?

Imagine the air around us is like a thick blanket. For most of human history, this blanket stayed just right, warm enough to live in, but not too hot. Recently, we started adding more layers to that blanket by burning old plant stuff deep underground, called fossil fuels. This traps extra heat.

Scientists look back at ancient ice cubes trapped in glaciers to see what the air was like long ago. They find that for hundreds of thousands of years, the amount of carbon dioxide stayed within a certain range. But now, we are pushing it way past that limit very quickly.

Because the blanket is getting thicker, the Earth is warming up. This causes ice to melt and oceans to rise. We are changing the weather patterns faster than nature usually does. It is like turning up the stove in a kitchen that was just sitting comfortably.