The burning of fossil fuels, wildfires and natural processes like volcanic eruptions generate greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO₂). Since the 1800s, human activities, primarily burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, have raised the concentration of atmospheric CO₂ by 50%.
This rapid increase of CO₂ in the atmosphere traps heat and slows heat loss to space at a rate greater than ever before, and can have catastrophic and irreversible consequences to the environment: global temperatures will rise, melting glaciers and ice sheets, accelerated sea level rise, longer and more intense heat waves, droughts, wildfires, extreme rainfall, plant and geographic ranges are shifting, loss of biodiversity etc.
In 2015, the world leaders at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris set out an agreement to stop global warming at 2°C before the end of this century while pursuing efforts to limit the increase even further to 1.5°C. Today, 193 states and the European Union have joined the Paris Agreement. However, in spite all the efforts so far, the average global has already increased 1.1°C since the pre-industrial times and more action is required to reach the goal.
*In 2021, the carbon intensity of electricity generated in the UK was 270 gCO2e/kWh. (Source: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-intensity-electricity?tab=chart&country=~GBR)
** In 2020, the average carbon dioxide emissions from new cars in the United Kingdom (UK) was around 128g per kilometer or 205g per mile. (Source: https://www.nimblefins.co.uk/average-co2-emissions-car-uk#nogo)