By Alfie, Chris and Daniel

What does it mean? ‘Climate’- The weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period of time. ‘Change’- The ongoing changes. So ‘Climate and change’ is then ongoing changes in the weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period of time.

Natural changes The climate is always changing naturally and some examples of these natural changes include: Ice ages Medieval warming period We have evidence for these changes in: ice cores and fossils. The last major ice age was known as the Pleistocene and the most recent 10,000 years is know as the Holocene and both of these are part of the Quaternary period of Earth’s history.

What are the causes of natural climate change? Volcanic activity Solar output Orbital changes Long Time Span Shorter

Natural changes in more recent years

Evidence for this Medieval warming period – Some evidence is the fact that they had a brilliant harvest the years when the temperature had risen. Little ice age – Some evidence includes that a lot of paintings around that time are related to this little ice age (as seen above)

The megafauna The megafauna included the: –Sabre-toothed tiger –Woolly mammoth –Giant beaver

The extinction of the megafauna Extinction Human intervention Slow adaption rate Lack of food Peat bogsDiseaseStarvation Climate change

Causes of climate change

Gases Methane, Nitrous Oxide and Carbon Dioxide are all greenhouse gases. Graph showing the rises in greenhouse gases from

Impacts Climate change leads to: –Droughts –Floods –Rising sea levels –More severe and more frequent natural disasters

Greenhouse effect 1.Enables us to stay alive. 2.Our increasing production of greenhouse gases leads to increased temperatures as more of the sun’s energy is trapped. 3.That is global warming.

Future changes In future the temperature will continue to rise with the prolonged and increasing burning of fossil fuels. Global temperatures are currently going off the scale!

Future changes New crops – More money Changing Species Increase erosion Increase in coastal tourism Melting of Scotland’s ski resorts Temperature increase so more air conditioners sold – Boosting economy

Case studies

Remember The definition of climate change Natural changes over time The megafauna and their extinction Causes of climate change Impacts of climate change Greenhouse gases and the effect Future changes Correlation between CO2 and temperature Evidence for the ice age and medieval warming period The periods of time we’re in and have experienced

Quiz 1)What period of the Earth’s history are we in? 2)Name the three natural causes of climate change. 3)What happened first the little ice age or the medieval warming period? 4)Name one piece of evidence for the medieval warming period. 5)Name two of the extinct megafauna. 6)Name 5 causes for their extinction. 7)What is the largest factor affecting climate change? 8)Name 3 greenhouse gases. 9)Name 3 examples of increasing temperatures. 10)Name an important case study.