The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon allowing life to occur on the planet. It is caused by a series of greenhouse gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) that absorb part of the energy, while the remainder escapes into space. This means that some of the sun's energy becomes trapped –thus making the lower part of the atmosphere, and Earth, warmer.

However, for at least two decades, the scientific community began warning us that the Earth was heating up at an unprecedented rate. Weather has always varied; the current climate change problem is that, within the past two centuries, the rate of these variations has greatly increased, and this acceleration will be exponential if steps are not taken.