Climate Change

What is climate change?

Our days change with the season and by the day; hot, cold, sunny and raining. This is weather.

Climate change is different. It is a permanent shift in these weather patterns. It has happened before. In past ages, climate change has brought cold periods called ice ages and warmer periods when ice melts and sea level rises. These changes are natural and usually happen very slowly.

The present climate change trend is different from all the others in the Earth’s history because it is largely caused by people and it is happening very quickly.

The Earth’s atmosphere and green house gases

Our Earth is wrapped in a blanket of air called the atmosphere. The atmosphere is like a duvet. It keeps us from getting too hot or too cold. Without our atmosphere the sun’s rays would fry us by day and we’d freeze in the darkness of night.

Most of the air is nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%) but there are small amounts of other gases, notably carbon dioxide (CO2), which are extra good at keeping in the sun’s warmth. These are the greenhouse gases.

The Carbon Cycle

CO2 is made up of carbon and oxygen. Carbon is the main ingredient in plants - trees, bushes and grass. The cycle goes like this:

Carbon turns into carbon dioxide:
• When animals eat plants. They turn the plant carbon into CO2 and breathe it out.
• When plants and animals die, their bodies release CO2.
• When plants burn. Fires release CO2.

Carbon dioxide turns into carbon:
• When plants take in carbon dioxide from the air and grow.

Millions of year ago, there were huge forests that didn’t rot and release their carbon dioxide. Instead the trees fell into swamps and were buried deep in the earth. They became coal. Prehistoric marine plants and animals formed oil and gas. We call these fossil fuels, because they are so old.

Now we are burning these long-lost plants and putting their carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But the carbon cycle can’t work fast enough to take it out again so it’s building up in the atmosphere.

Having more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is like putting an extra duvet on the bed. The world is getting warmer.

What are the consequences?

• Ice and snow will melt.
• The sea will become warmer
• The weather patterns will change

Less ice and snow means sea levels will rise, and there will be less water in rivers fed by glaciers.

Sea level rise will flood low-lying land. Low-lying countries like Holland, and islands such as the Maldives and Tuvalu will disappear under water.

Warmer seas will affect plankton and fish and could change the way ocean currents flow.

Rainfall patterns will also change - some places will get floods and some will get droughts. This will destroy crops and farms and people will starve. Storms will happen more often.

This is going to bring changes to the lives of everything that lives on Earth. Many species will become extinct. It will change the way people live. It will be especially hard for people in poor countries, many of which will be hard-hit by drought.

It is in all our best interests to SLOW DOWN CLIMATE CHANGE.