1. Causes of Climate Change

2. Volcanic Eruptions
• Actually, volcanic
eruption cool the Earth.
• This is because the ash
from the eruption stops
the Sun’s radiation from
reaching the Earth,
making it cooler.
• The Mount Pinatubo
eruption of 1991 cooled
the whole earth by 1°C!

3. Sun Spots
• The sun has an 11
year cycle of activity.
• At its most active it
can produce many
sun spots which send
solar energy to Earth.
These are thought to
change weather
patterns and warm
the planet but
evidence is not clear.

4. Human Causes

5. Transport
• Now people use cars
more often pollutants are
rising.
• In 2004 British cars
created 120 million
tonnes of carbon dioxide
• Aeroplanes are further
warming the planet,
adding more than 700
million tonnes of carbon
dioxide each year.

6. Industry
• 36% of the World’s CO2 is produced by industry.
• This production has increased further each year,
by 61% between 1971 and 2004
• Positively, many industries have become more
efficient, so are emitting less carbon.

7. Deforestation
• Every minute 2,000 trees are
cut down around the world.
These trees store CO2
within them. When the trees
are cut down, this is
released back into the
atmosphere helping to warm
the planet.
• If the cleared land is used for
cattle, large amounts of
methane will be released
into the atmosphere,
warming the Earth further.

8. Population growth
• As population grows,
there are more and
more pressures on
land for food,
resources and
energy. There are
also more people
producing waste
which is helping to
warm the planet

9. Rubbish and Waste
• We all want the latest
gadget, but it has to
come from somewhere,
and where does the old
one go? To create your
new products takes
energy and creates a
lot of waste.

10. Energy Production
• A lot of the energy we
use to power our homes
comes from non-
renewable energy
sources.
• This is using up valuable
resources, but also
pumping out harmful
waste into the
atmosphere which is
warming it.
• Coal power stations are
particularly bad
• How could we make this
better?

11. Eating Meat
• Cows release vast quantities of methane which
is one of the more harmful greenhouse gasses.
• Cows also have to graze on land which would
have previously been woodland, reducing the
carbon store

12. Explain why higher levels of greenhouse gases
cause a rise in global temperatures (4 marks)
• Identify a greenhouse gas and say they have
increased over the years (1)
• Rise in GHG traps solar radiation (1)
• Solar radiation is reflected back from the surface
of the earth (1)
• This heats the atmosphere from below/the inside
and as ice melts CO2 is released (1)