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		Climate Change Climate Change and Global Warming What's New The Impacts of Climate Change Climate Change and Biodiversity: An Interactive Map What You Can Do:   Carbon Footprint Calculator Offset Your Emissions   Contribute Now   Contribute Monthly   Climate-Saving Tips   Get the Facts   Take a Quiz   Get our e-Newsletter   Donate now What We Do:   Stop Deforestation   Adapt to Impacts   Support Policy Where We Work on Climate Change Contact Us Press Releases Tell us what you think about climate change

Help fight climate change With your help, we can reduce the impacts of climate change on our lives, on our environment and on future generations. We Want to Hear from You Tell us what you think about our climate change work. What are you doing to lessen your impact on the climate? Climate Change in Depth Visit our climate change workspace and online library on ConserveOnline, a portal for the conservation community.

The science of climate change is complex, but everyone should know the basics: the Earth is heating up because gases produced from vehicles, power plants, deforestation, and other sources are building up in the atmosphere, acting like a thick blanket over our planet.

We can all reduce climate change by doing our part to decrease the emission of heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere.

Read below to learn some more facts about climate change, or take our quiz now to test your knowledge!

The Facts About Climate Change

• FACT: Average global temperatures increased by about 1 degree Fahrenheit over the 20th century.
• FACT: The United States contains only 5 percent of the world’s population, but contributes 22 percent of the world’s carbon emissions.
• FACT: Between 20 and 25 percent of carbon emissions come from deforestation and land use change.
• FACT: The Golden Toad (Bufo periglenes) is thought to be the first species to go extinct because of climate change.
• FACT: Personal cars and trucks in the United States emit 20 percent of the United States' carbon emissions.
• FACT: Air conditioning and heating account for almost half of electricity use in the average American home.
• FACT: Climate change is linked to stronger hurricanes, more drought and increased coral deaths from bleaching.
• FACT: Climate change is linked to an increase in disease-carrying pests that lead to the increased spread of diseases such as dengue fever, malaria, lyme disease and West Nile virus.