The amount of greenhouse gases released by human activities – such as the burning of fossil fuels for energy and forest clearing – is called our "carb

As a whole, people are currently releasing far more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than ecosystems can immediately reabsorb. In other words, our carbon footprint is outstripping nature's capacity to deal with it.

As a result, these gases are building up in the atmosphere, causing global temperatures to rise – and, consequently, climate change.

Continued emissions of greenhouse gases could see the average global temperature rise by more than 4°C by the end of this century. The impacts of such a rise are the biggest threat to nature and humanity in the 21st century.