What is the international community doing?
How will the weather change?
What is the evidence of global warming?
What is climate change?
How are we causing climate change?
How can we help?
What is the greenhouse effect?
It is difficult to predict, but we can expect more extreme weather conditions like floods, storms and heat waves. Scientists believe there will be more rain but also a higher risk of drought in inland areas
The term refers to the role played by the layer of gases, including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, which trap the heat from the sun in the earth’s atmosphere. We need the layer to keep in some of the heat but now the concentration of gases, especially CO2 is increasing and retaining more heat.
Human activities, like traveling by car, eating hamburgers or heating water in the home have led to an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, causing an enhanced greenhouse effect and extra warming.
The Kyoto Protocol (1997) commits industrialized countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. It suffered a huge set back in 2001 when the USA, responsible for a quarter of global emissions, pulled out.
The planet’s climate is constantly changing but now scientists believe that the extreme changes taking place today are a result of human activity. The changes we see today may affect the stability of the climate on which much life on the planet depends.
Simple actions can save money and energy: and there are many things we can do to reduce our C02 emissions, from switching off electrical appliances when they are not being used to insulating our home properly and walking instead of driving one short trip a week.
Sea levels have risen by 10 – 20 cm. This is due to the expansion of warming oceans. Temperature records show that the average temperature has increased by about 0.6ºC in the 20th century.