What causes leaves to change color in fall

Leaves are green due to the presence of chlorophyll. During the spring and summer months when trees are growing, there's an abundance of chlorophyll pigments in the leaves. 

Chlorophyll serves the vital function of capturing sun rays and converting it to energy for the plants i.e, plants food & source of nourishment. In late summer, early fall as the days shorten there's less solar energy and thus Chlorophyll starts to breakdown giving way for other pigments such as Carotenoids to become more obvious and there orange-yellow-red colors to surface giving the trees the famous "fall color" look