The atmosphere of our planet is very thin compared to its circumference.  In fact, you are closer to the frigid vacuum of space than you are to a place just a few miles away from you.

Our atmosphere is made up of gasses, and all gases can be liquefied (think of steam condensing).

If our entire atmosphere were liquefied it would create a body of liquid about the same size as the Mediterranean sea. So that’s how big our entire planet’s atmosphere is - about the size of the Mediterranean sea.

Now, imagine pumping thousands upon thousands of billions of tons of a substance (say oil) into the Mediterranean sea. Imagine vast pipes constantly pumping out oil into the Mediterranean sea, day after day, month after month, year after year. Well, that’s what we are doing to our atmosphere.

In 2000 we poured 30 billion tons of Co2 into our Mediterranean-sized atmosphere (that’s 30,000,000,000 tons). And we did the same the year before, and the year after, and the year after that. Continually and consistently we are pumping this stuff out.

In fact, we have pumped so many billions of tons of Co2 into our Mediterranean-sized atmosphere that we are actually changing the composition of the atmosphere.

And Co2 molecules have particular properties concerning the wavelength of radiation that they reflect or allow to pass. They let light through from the sun, but reflect heat back to the earth.

Which is why our world is getting warmer, and warmer, and warmer.

Co2 molecules don’t care whether you’re capitalist or socialist, what politician you support, whether you understand science or not. They don’t care whether you feel you need a car, or air-conditioning, or oil-fired central heating. They don’t care about politics, or jobs, or public awareness.

They just carry on admitting short-wave radiation and blocking long wave radiation. Day after day, month after month, year after year, decade after decade.