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| The Earth's weather patterns have always changed naturally over time. But now, scientists believe humans are disturbing these patterns. By burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) we are creating greenhouse gases, which are trapping heat around the planet. |
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Greenhouses gases occur naturally, and are a good thing! They trap in heat from the sun and keep the temperature of the Earth warm enough to support life.
But now we are creating such large amounts of greenhouse gases that we are causing global temperatures to rise faster than ever before.
As the planet warms it causes our climate to change and we can already see the effects around the world - from shrinking glaciers and melting ice-caps, to more extreme weather events - floods, storms, droughts and rising sea-levels. |
What can we expect in the future?
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Many climate scientists now say that we only have about 10 years left to stabilise the amount of pollution we are creating and then start to rapidly reduce it. If we fail to do this we may reach a tipping point, where despite all our best efforts to reduce the amount of fossil fuels we burn, the temperature will keep on rising.
Even if we stopped burning all fossil fuels today we will still experience more global warming (about 2°C). This is because greenhouses gases stay in the atmosphere for a long period of time (carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, lasts for about 100 years). 2°C may not sound like a lot, but it will be enough to cause some major changes to our climate. |
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If we fail to tackle climate change and carry on burning fossil fuels at the current rate, we can expect an average rise in temperature of about 4.5°C by the end of the century. This will lead to major loss of life, the collapse of ecosystems and eventually the sea flooding major coastal cities including London, New York and Calcutta.
The most important thing is that it's not too late - we have a choice. But we must act now to avoid a huge problem later.
More info
To find out more about climate change visit:
BBC Weather Centre
Climate Challenge
(or if you’re feeling really keen
Real Climate or The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) |
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