Myth: Changes in CO2 follow temperature changes, not vice-versa

Studies show that changes in the level of CO₂ follow changes in temperature, rather than precede them, so they can’t be the cause of global warming. 

Fact:

Changes in temperature do trigger changes in the level of carbon dioxide, by causing the oceans to emit more or less CO₂. This in turn changes the Earth’s temperature, by increasing or decreasing the absorption of heat in the atmosphere (which in turn changes the level of water vapour – a major greenhouse gas). In other words, global temperature and CO₂ levels lead and follow each other in mutually reinforcing cycles. It is this process, over a period of millennia, that results in ice ages and thaws.