World Bank warns of ‘4-degree’ threshold of global temperature increase. Heat-trapping gases emitted by power plants, automobiles, deforestation and other sources are warming up our planet. High temperatures are to blame for an increase in heat-related deaths and illness, rising seas, increased storm intensity. Higher temperatures on the earth`s surface at higher latitudes cause an increase in the emission of methane, a greenhouse gas that plays an important role in global warming. Higher temperatures are not just a consequence of climate change but can also worsen cause of it.