Climate change is the increase of Earth's average surface temperature due to greenhouse gases that collect in the atmosphere, trapping the sun's heat and causing the planet to warm up. Usually, greenhouse gases keep the planet's temperature stable but with too much of these gases and fossil fuels, the Earth will become much hotter than it should be. 

Humans have been releasing fossil fuels from coal, oil, and gas to run our cars, trucks, and factories since the 1700's. Because of this, there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today than at any point in the last 800,000 years.

What can you do?
Driving an electric car will save your gas money, and emit no excess gases. Or you could always carpool, bike, skateboard, etc. to be more energy efficient. 

Polar ice caps are huge sheets of ice that lie at Earth's poles.

Right at this moment, as you sit here reading this post, the polar ice caps are shrinking, all because of global warming. The sea level has risen six to eight inches (15 to 20 cm) in the last 100 years, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Humans would have to move more inland because of the flooding; some smaller islands have already started vanishing! This melted ice would also change the temperature of the oceans, which could harm underwater creatures.