Climate Change What is ‘Climate Change’? Evidence of Climate Change Causes of Climate Change What is going to happen in the future?

What is ‘Climate Change’? It is a change in the climate we would usually expect For the UK, future climate change may mean hotter/drier summers and wetter/stormier winters

Causes of Climate Change What do you think they are?

Causes of Climate Change 1.Natural Fluctuations There is evidence that over time there have been changes to the Earth’s climate, e.g. mini Ice-Age During Victorian times, end of 1800s, winters were a lot colder than they are now. Ice-skating on frozen lakes happened!

Causes of Climate Change 2. Greenhouse Effect CO 2 emissions released by us into the Earth’s atmosphere stop some of the sun-rays from leaving the Earth’s atmosphere = making the Earth warmer.

Greenhouse Effect Greenhouse Effect Diagram:

Where do all the CO 2 emissions come from? From different places… Burning fossil fuels, e.g. coal/oil, releases CO 2 into the atmosphere When we breathe out we release CO 2 Through natural processes, e.g. volcanoes OR melting of permafrost, release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere

Causes of Climate Change People have argued about the influence humans have on the change of climate we are experiencing now and what is predicted for the future. What do you think? How much of an impact are humans having?

On 2 Feb. 2007, The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) released a report… The report states that Global climate change is “very likely” to have been human-induced

Achim Steiner, from the UN stated, “ Friday, 2 February 2007 may go down in history as the day when the question mark was removed from the question of whether climate change has anything to do with human activities.”

Causes of Climate Change Now there is NO doubt that humans have had, and are having a big impact on climate change.

Evidence of Climate Change IPCC’s 2 Feb 2007 Report: ‘Warming Signs’ 11 of the last 12 years are among the warmest on record Oceans have warmed down to 3,000 metres Mountain glaciers and snow covers have declined

Evidence of Climate Change IPCC’s 2 Feb 2007 Report: ‘Warming Signs’ Satellites have seen an acceleration in sea level rise More intense and longer droughts have been observed Arctic ice cover is shrinking in depth and in extent

What is going to happen in the future? Predictions suggest that we will notice further change to our climate. In the UK, we could have wetter/stormier winters with hotter/drier summers.

As temperature, rainfall patterns and ocean currents change, there will be impacts in the UK, e.g… During the summer, air-conditioning will be needed more widely Lack of water may become more common Less need to travel to Spain to get a sun-tan! Mosquitoes may become common Birch trees may find it difficult to survive in the changing climate

A possible scenario… As a result of increased amounts of melt water in the sea - a warm ocean current, called the North Atlantic Drift could be stopped resulting in a dramatic drop in temperatures for north-west Europe.

What is going to happen globally? More extreme weather, e.g. more intense hurricanes More droughts More intense Asian monsoon Flooding of low-lying coastal areas

What is going to happen globally? There could be more rain in some places, but drier than normal in others How will people in different parts of the world be impacted by climate change?

What is going to happen globally? The impacts on people will vary depending where you live – impacts could include: Many people having to move to higher ground, due to flooding People having to be better prepared in hurricane-risk regions Farmers having to adapt to changing growing seasons

Is it all doom and gloom? NO There have been changes in the climate and there are likely to be more, BUT, we can plan, adapt and reduce further impacts.

What can be done? Renewable Energy is being used more – a clean way to produce energy Governments are working together to reduce CO 2 emissions Technologies are being invented that will reduce our pollution We can all choose to become more energy efficient and encourage others to become more environmentally friendly

What do you think? Is Climate Change important enough for you to do something about? In December 2006, the BBC carried out research with teenagers and the issues they thought were important Only 5% thought climate change was important

Many regard Climate Change as the most important issue in the world today What do you think? Do you think it is important enough to do something about? What are you going to do? You have the POWER to change the future!