Graphic: Carbon Dioxide Traps Heat, Like a Puffy Coat

Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, have made Earth’s “puffy coat” warmer. But Earth’s atmosphere can’t simply take off its jacket when it gets too hot. We can, however, stop adding insulation.

Image Description:

Graphic shows Planet Earth in the upper right corner with a global temperature data overlay (yellow and red = warmer, blue and white = cooler). It shows warming in North and South America and in the mid-latitudes. Warming Earth is wearing a dark puffy coat, making it even warmer.

To the left of Planet Earth is large, bold text reading "Carbon dioxide traps heat, like a puffy coat." Below Planet Earth and the large, bold text is smaller text reading "Humans have increased the amount of CO₂ in our atmosphere by 50% since 1750. We've made Earth's insulating 'puffy coat' thicker than it's been in millions of years. As a result, our climate is warming rapidly." The text "our climate is warming rapidly" is in a shade of red. The graphic’s background is a light red, yellow, and white gradient. The bottom right has small text reading "climate.nasa.gov."