This document discusses climate change and is divided into 7 sections. It defines climate change, describes the greenhouse effect, and explains how human activities like burning fossil fuels and deforestation are the main causes of increased greenhouse gases and global warming. The impacts of climate change are also reviewed, such as rising sea levels and extreme weather events. Actions governments and individuals can take to reduce emissions and mitigate climate change are presented.

2. Section 1: What is climate change? Recent climate history
and
future projections
Section 2: The greenhouse effect
Section 3: Human activities causing climate change
Section 4: Why does climate change matter?
What can be done about it?
Section 5: What can governments do?
Section 6: What can you and your family do?
Section 7: Summary

4.  The long-term average of a region’s weather:
◦ Average rainfall.
◦ Average hours of sunshine.
◦ Average temperature.
 Climate versus weather:
◦ Weather describes whatever is happening
outdoors in a given place at a given time.
◦ Climate describes the total of all weather
occurring over a period of years in a given place.
◦ Climate tells us what it's usually like in the place
where you live at a certain time of year.

5.  Climate change represents a change in these
long-term weather patterns.
◦ Average temperatures can increase or decrease.
◦ Rainfall can increase or decrease, as can hours of
sunshine.
 Climate change has occurred naturally over
millions and millions of years.
 However when scientists talk about the issue
of climate change, their concern is about
global warming caused by human activities.

6.  The earth has warmed by over 0.5°C in the
last 100 years.
 The eleven years 1995-2006 rank amongst
the twelve warmest years since records of
global surface temperature began in 1850.

8.  A warmer earth is causing glaciers and ice sheets
to melt. It is also leading to rising sea levels.
 The summer ice in the arctic is predicted to
disappear completely between 2013 and 2040; a
state not seen on earth for more than a million
years.
 The next slide shows the Triftgletscher glacier in
Switzerland, comparing 1948 with 2002 and
2006.

10.  In general scientists agree that temperature
rises of 2°C above pre-industrial levels are
almost inevitable, and rises of 3°C are likely.
 This may not sound like much but even a
small increase in temperature over a long
time can change the climate.

13. To understand human-induced climate change it is
helpful to look first at the ‘greenhouse effect’.

14.  Greenhouses work by trapping heat from the sun.
 The glass panels of the greenhouse let in light but keep heat
from escaping.
 This causes the greenhouse to heat up, much like the inside of a
car parked in sunlight, and keeps the plants warm enough to live
in the winter.

15.  The earth’s atmosphere (the air that we
breathe) contains a number of so called
greenhouse gases.
 The ones most closely associated with global
warming are carbon dioxide (CO2) and
methane (CH4).
 These gases behave like the glass panes in a
greenhouse.

17.  Incoming shortwave radiation from the sun
◦ Sunlight (short wave solar radiation) enters the earth’s atmosphere.
◦ Most of this solar radiation is absorbed by the earth’s surface (land and
sea) and warms it.
◦ Some of it is reflected by the earth back into the atmosphere.
 Outgoing longwave (infrared) radiation from the earth
◦ In return the earth admits long wave energy back into the atmosphere.
◦ Because it is longwave energy (not shortwave like the energy carried by the
rays from the sun), some of it gets trapped by the greenhouse gases.
◦ This causes the earth to be warmer than it would without the greenhouse
gases.
◦ The thicker the blanket of greenhouse gases, the more the outgoing
energy gets trapped and the greater the warming effect.

18.  Human activity is causing a thick blanket of
greenhouse gases to build up in the
atmosphere.
 These gases are trapping heat and causing
the earth to warm.

20.  Since the Industrial Revolution the need for
energy to run machines has steadily increased.
 Much of this comes from fuels like coal and oil –
fossil fuels.
 Burning these fuels releases greenhouse gases.
 Note that coal and oil are the main fuels used by
power plants producing electricity. So most
things that run on electricity indirectly cause
greenhouse gas emissions.

22.  Driving a car
 Flying by plane
 Travelling by bus or train
 Electric lights
 Watching TV
 Using the computer
 Washing and drying clothes
 Cooking a meal
 Heating your home

24. • Mature forests store enormous quantities of carbon, which is
released into the atmosphere when they are cut down.
• Forest covers 30% of the world’s land area. We are destroying
28,000 square miles a year.

27. Climate change threatens the necessities of life that we take
for granted – access to food and water and political stability:
 By 2080 half the world’s population could face a shortage of
water because of climate change.
 By 2050 200 million people could be permanently displaced
by floods, rising sea levels and draughts.
 Food and water shortages could lead to migration and
instability on a scale not seen before.

28.  Changes in climatic conditions can harm the
delicate ecosystems in which species live.
 The speed at which change is happening
means that many plants and animals may not
be able to react quickly enough to survive.

32.  The government can drive efforts to switch to
renewable energy and reduce carbon
emissions in energy generation:
◦ Solar power
◦ Wind power
◦ Nuclear power
◦ Bio-energy
◦ Carbon capture and storage (for example burying
carbon dioxide emissions underground).

33.  Most deforestation occurs in developing
regions:
◦ Brazil / South America
◦ Indonesia / Asia
◦ Africa
 These countries need financial support to
replace loss of earnings from logging.

34.  The true ‘environmental’ cost of carbon
needs to be reflected in the cost of fuel,
electricity and food.
 Taxes and regulation will ensure that the
polluter pays.
 So if the ‘price of carbon’ is set at £50 per
tonne, and a flight to Australia and back
emits 10 tonnes of carbon per passenger, the
price of the flight will rise by £500.

35.  The poorest developing countries will be hit earliest and
hardest by climate change, even though they have
contributed little to causing the problem. Their low
incomes make it difficult to finance adaptation.
 Kyoto's clean development mechanism caps emissions by
rich countries, forcing them to buy permits from poor
countries to emit greenhouse gases.
 The funds raised are then invested in projects that
reduceemissions in the developing countries.
 The emissions trading program of the European Union is
the hub of the global market; the value of EU carbon
emissions trading reached $50bn in 2007.

37. Transport:
 Riding in a car
 Getting on a bus or train
 Flying
Home energy use (unless powered by renewable energy):
 Turning on the lights
 Watching TV
 Using the computer
 Washing and drying clothes
 Cooking a meal
 Heating your water
 Heating your home

38.  In the UK emissions from homes are responsible for an
estimated 27% of the UK’s total carbon emissions. You and
your family’s behaviour and choice and use of
technologies are major determinants of your energy use.
 A report by the Energy Saving Trust predicts that by 2010
the UK could waste up to £11 billion annually and emit
around 43 million tonnes of carbon dioxide through
wasted energy, such as leaving lights on and appliances on
standby.
 More than 30% of the trips made by cars in Europe are for
less than 2 miles and 50% for less than 3 miles. Walking or
cycling will cut emissions and improve air quality, reduce
congestion and improve road safety.

39.  Ride a bike or walk instead of going by car.
 Turn the lights off when you leave the room.
 Cut your TV watching. Don’t leave the TV on standby – turn it off at
the wall.
 Recycle as much as possible . Recycle cans, bottles, plastic bags,
and newspapers. When you recycle, you send less rubbish to the
landfill and you help save natural resources, like trees, oil, and
elements such as aluminium.
 Don’t waste food.
 Eat less beef and dairy products. Cows produce methane which is
one of the most damaging greenhouse gases.
 Plant trees. Planting trees is fun and a great way to reduce
greenhouse gases. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air.
 Buy recycled products which don’t use ‘new’ resources and don’t

40.  Try not to fly (the emissions from flights are really high). Take the
train instead: a short haul flight emits six times as much carbon per
passenger as a high speed train, and 12 times as much as a coach.
 Use public transport where possible, or share a car to work / school.
 Make their car as energy efficient as possible. Choose a smaller
engine: small is beautiful. A 2.0 litre engine emits 40% more CO2
per mile than a car with an engine size 1.4 – 2.0 litres.
 They could also switch their vehicle to LPG (autogas) - it’s 40%
cheaper and greener. As well as cutting CO2 emissions by 20%, they
will also cut production of harmful gases such as carbon monoxide
and nitrous oxide by more than half.

41.  Use low energy light bulbs.
 Turn the thermostat down.
 Make sure their loft and hot water tank are
properly insulated to stop heat from being lost
unnecessarily.
 Switch to ‘green energy’. Companies like ‘Good
energy’ offer energy produced by solar power
and wind turbines.
 Install their own solar panels or wind turbine.

44.  Average temperatures around the world are
increasing.
 Whenever we burn fossil fuels or cut down trees we
release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere,
primarily carbon dioxide and methane.
 These gases trap heat in the atmosphere and warm
up the earth. The more we burn fossil fuels and cut
down trees, the more the earth’s surface heats up.
 The average temperature is expected to rise by at
least 2°C by the end of this century, probably more.

45.  Whilst this doesn’t sound like much, it is enough to
ensure billions of people could suffer from water
shortages and heatwaves. In addition melting ice
sheets and rising sea levels could cause flooding and
the displacement of millions of people.
 30% of animal species are thought to be at risk of
extinction.
 We all need to tackle climate change – by cutting our
use of energy and switching to renewable sources of
energy (energy produced by the sun, wind, hydro-
electricity and nuclear).