One of the Greatest Problems Facing Humanity
Climate Change (otherwise known as Global Warming) has been described by some scientists as the single biggest threat facing civilisation in the future. The gradual warming of our climate will cause rising sea levels, more extreme weather events, drought in some areas of the world and heavy rainfall in others. We are already seeing some early signs of Climate Change with the melting of glaciers and the polar ice-caps. Further down the line we potentially face some terrible consequences as low-lying areas are flooded, food supplies are disrupted in many areas, and large movements of people take place to escape all of this. We all have a responsibility to act now so that we prevent this spinning out of control for future generations.
What Is Climate Change and Why Is It Happening?
Climate Change is caused by a natural mechanism known as the ‘green-house effect'. More of the sun's heat is being trapped in the earth's atmosphere because of the higher amount of certain gases in the atmosphere - known as ‘green-house gases' - which prevent the heat escaping back into space. Chief amongst these is carbon dioxide (CO2), which is increasing in the atmosphere because of the burning of fossil fuels such as gas, oil and coal. Methane is another major greenhouse gas.
Concentrations of these gases are rising quickly, as we burn more fuel for electricity, heat, and transport. As a result, the earth's temperature is rising. Over the past century it has risen about 0.74 degrees. This doesn't sound like a lot until you realise how sensitive our environment is to relatively minor changes in temperature. For example, did you know that the last Ice Age, the temperature was only about 6 degrees different from today? Plus the rate of temperature increase is speeding up: over half of the rise in the last 100 years has happened since the 1970s.
Why Should I Worry?
Even in a best case scenario, in the UK in future we are likely to see increased flooding due to heavy rain, more heatwaves in summer, and an increased number of high sea level events. One report predicts that by 2050 3.5million people in the UK will be at high risk of flooding in their homes.
However, there is a real risk that Climate Change spins out of control in the next 50 years. This is because of the relentless increase in demand for energy from a richer, larger world population. There is also a big risk that some natural phenomena which have so far absorbed a lot of greenhouse gases, and so prevented more climate change, will stop doing this. For example, the seas absorb a lot of carbon dioxide, but there is evidence that this is slowing down. Recent research reports have identified that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are rising faster than expected. If Climate Change does spin out of control the consequences for future generations will be very difficult to cope with. Many of our major cities will be flooded. Large areas of the world will become uninhabitable. Millions could face starvation.
You, me and every person on this planet is causing this by the way we live. We all have a responsibility to change this. Unfortunately we are desperately short of time. The actions we take in the next 5 to 10 years will be extremely important to how things play out over the next century.
What Should I Do Now?
The sooner we start the easier it will be, and the more chance we have of preventing catastrophic changes to our environment. We all need to take action as soon as we can, which is what this web-site is designed to help you do. Once you have read this section please go back to the rest of the site and use it to start reducing your personal contribution to Climate Change.
