Greenhouse gas monitors

Greenhouse gases and our future

As greenhouse gas emissions from human activity increase, they build up in the atmosphere and warm the climate, leading to changes in weather patterns, on land and in the oceans.

These changes affect people, society and the environment — including plants and animals.

Because many of the major greenhouse gases can remain in the atmosphere for hundreds of years after being released, their warming effect on the climate threatens to impact both present and future generations.

The ability to measure and track greenhouse gas emissions provides a global context for understanding their role in climate change and a possible roadmap for changing human behaviour to protect the planet and its resources.