Global Warming: Causes, Effects, and International Response

The average temperature of the Earth’s surface and oceans is rising, and the pace of that change is faster than anything seen in the planet’s recent history. This is what we call global warming. While the planet has gone through warm and cold phases over hundreds of thousands of years, the current warming trend stands out because it is driven largely by human activity and is unfolding within a few generations rather than over millennia. Understanding why this is happening, what it means for our lives, and how the world is responding is essential for anyone studying the politics of environment and development.

What global warming actually means 🔗

Scientists define global warming as the increase in average global surface temperature relative to a baseline period, usually measured over two or three decades to smooth out year-to-year fluctuations. The most common reference point is the period 1850-1900, often called the pre-industrial baseline. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, human activities have unequivocally caused global warming, with the global surface temperature reaching about 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels during 2011-2020.

The mechanism behind this is the greenhouse effect. Certain gases in the atmosphere absorb heat radiating from the Earth’s surface and re-emit it in all directions, effectively trapping warmth that would otherwise escape into space. The US Environmental Protection Agency describes these gases as acting like a blanket around the planet. This natural process keeps the Earth habitable. Without greenhouse gases, the average surface temperature would be far below freezing. The problem arises when human activity adds extra gases to the atmosphere, intensifying the effect beyond natural levels.

The human causes behind rising temperatures 🔗

The warming we are experiencing today is not part of a natural cycle. Researchers have examined the natural events known to influence climate, and the measured pattern of warming cannot be explained without including greenhouse gases released by humans. The main sources of these emissions are clear and well documented.

Burning fossil fuels 🔗

The single largest contributor is the combustion of fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. These fuels power our electricity plants, vehicles, factories, and homes. When burnt, they release carbon dioxide (CO₂), the gas responsible for the most warming. Because so much of the global economy still depends on fossil fuels, this remains the dominant driver of rising temperatures.

Deforestation and land use change 🔗

Forests act as natural carbon sinks, absorbing CO₂ from the atmosphere through trees and plants. When forests are cleared for agriculture, construction, or timber, two things happen at once. The stored carbon is released, and the planet loses a system that would otherwise have removed CO₂ from the air. The IPCC notes that emissions arise not only from burning fuel but also from industrial processes, farming activities, and deforestation.

Other greenhouse gases 🔗

Carbon dioxide is not the only culprit. Methane, released from landfills, agriculture, and the digestive systems of livestock, traps far more heat per molecule than CO₂. Nitrous oxide from fertilisers is even more potent over a given period. Industrial gases used in refrigeration and manufacturing also add to the burden. Different gases have very different heat-trapping abilities, which is why scientists use a measure called Global Warming Potential to compare their effects in terms of carbon dioxide equivalents.

The effects we are already seeing 🔗

Global warming is not a distant threat. Its consequences are already visible, and developing nations with large populations and long coastlines face some of the sharpest impacts.

Extreme weather and shifting monsoons 🔗

Higher temperatures fuel more frequent and more intense heat waves, while warmer oceans and atmosphere alter rainfall patterns. The country is already witnessing deadly heat waves, an increasingly unpredictable monsoon, droughts that threaten agriculture, and more intense natural disasters. For a nation where farming depends heavily on the timing and quantity of monsoon rains, even small shifts can endanger food security for millions.

Rising seas and coastal risk 🔗

As ice sheets and glaciers melt and seawater expands with heat, sea levels rise. This leads to the erosion of coastal zones and the intrusion of seawater into freshwater sources. Vulnerability assessments carried out for the country identified sea level rise, seawater intrusion, and the spread of vector-borne diseases among the major risks of a warming planet. The retreat of Himalayan glaciers adds a further dimension, since these glaciers feed major rivers and underpin water security for hundreds of millions of people downstream.

How the world began to respond 🔗

The international community did not address climate change overnight. The response grew gradually as scientific understanding deepened and political will built up across decades.

The Stockholm Conference, 1972 🔗

The starting point of modern international environmental politics was the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in 1972. This was the first global summit of its kind. It led to the creation of the United Nations Environment Programme and committed countries to coordinate efforts to protect the environment. Climate change was barely a footnote at the time, treated as a scientific curiosity rather than a political priority. Even so, Stockholm established the principle that environmental problems require international cooperation.

The IPCC and scientific consensus 🔗

As warnings from scientists grew louder through the 1980s, the United Nations created the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988. The IPCC does not conduct its own research. Instead, it reviews the work of scientists worldwide and produces assessment reports that represent a consensus among hundreds of leading experts. These reports have become the authoritative basis for climate negotiations. Its Fourth Assessment Report declared that the warming of the climate system was unequivocal, and later reports have only strengthened the conclusion that human influence is the dominant cause.

The Earth Summit and the UNFCCC 🔗

In 1992, twenty years after Stockholm, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, popularly known as the Earth Summit, was held in Rio de Janeiro. Its most significant outcome was the opening for signature of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This treaty entered into force in 1994 and has since been ratified by nearly 197 countries. Its objective is to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that would prevent dangerous interference with the climate system. Importantly, the UNFCCC introduced the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, recognising that developed nations, having contributed most to historical emissions, should take the lead in cutting them.

The Kyoto Protocol 🔗

The UNFCCC set goals but not binding targets, so its members negotiated a stronger instrument. Adopted in Japan in 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was the first agreement to set legally binding emission reduction targets for industrialised countries. It aimed to cut their combined emissions to at least 5 per cent below 1990 levels during the 2008 to 2012 commitment period. The protocol entered into force in 2005, though its impact was limited because some of the world’s largest emitters did not ratify it.

The Paris Agreement 🔗

After years of negotiation, the next landmark came in 2015. At the 21st Conference of the Parties in Paris, nations adopted the Paris Agreement, in which countries committed to limiting global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, with efforts to keep it to 1.5°C. Unlike Kyoto’s top-down targets, Paris works through nationally determined contributions, meaning each country sets its own commitments and updates them over time through a process of periodic review.

National policies and the Indian response 🔗

Mitigating global warming requires not just international treaties but concrete action at the national level. As a rapidly developing country with high energy demand and a population highly exposed to climate risks, the country has built its own policy framework.

The National Action Plan on Climate Change 🔗

Launched on 30 June 2008 by the Prime Minister’s Council on Climate Change, the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) set out eight national missions covering areas such as solar energy, energy efficiency, sustainable habitat, water, and a Green India mission for afforestation. The National Solar Mission aims to make solar power competitive with fossil-fuel-based energy. The plan reflects a balance between development and climate goals, attempting to follow a low-carbon path without slowing economic growth or reducing quality of life.

The Panchamrit commitments 🔗

At the COP26 summit in Glasgow in 2021, the country strengthened its international pledges through five commitments known as Panchamrit, or the five nectar elements. These include raising non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030, meeting half of energy needs from renewables, reducing projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes, cutting the carbon intensity of the economy by 45 per cent over 2005 levels, and achieving net-zero emissions by 2070. These targets were formally incorporated into the updated nationally determined contribution submitted in 2022.

Why cooperation and awareness matter 🔗

No single country can solve global warming alone, because greenhouse gases mix in a shared atmosphere regardless of where they are emitted. This is why the problem demands international cooperation, supported by national policies that promote renewable energy and public awareness that drives collective action. The science is settled, and the IPCC has been clear that the world needs deep, rapid, and sustained reductions in emissions to limit warming. Technology transfer, climate finance, and capacity building from wealthier nations remain essential for developing countries to meet their goals. Equally important is the role of ordinary citizens, whose choices around energy, consumption, and lifestyle add up across a population of more than a billion.

Global warming sits at the intersection of science, politics, economics, and ethics. The journey from a footnote at Stockholm to binding commitments at Paris shows that the international community can act, but the gap between pledges and results remains the central challenge of climate governance.

What do you think? Should developed nations bear a greater share of the responsibility for cutting emissions given their larger historical contribution, or should fast-growing economies accept binding targets too? And how much can individual lifestyle changes really achieve compared with large-scale government and industrial action?

References

1. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_SYR_LongerReport.pdf
2. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/understanding-global-warming-potentials
3. https://www.ipcc.ch/2019/05/13/ipcc-2019-refinement/
4. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions
5. https://greenly.earth/en-gb/blog/company-guide/indias-national-action-plan-for-climate-change-napcc
6. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/the-history-of-global-climate-change-negotiations/
7. https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R46204
8. https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/stockholm-kyoto-brief-history-climate-change
9. https://www.climateaction.org/news/summary_indias_national_action_plan_on_climate_change
10. https://www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/cop28-assessing-indias-progress-against-climate-goals/