What is climate change?
Climate change refers to the variation in the Earth's global climate or in regional climates over time. Put simply, our planet is surrounded by a blanket of gasses that keep the surface of the earth warm and able to sustain life. Burning fossil fuels for energy as we cut down forests and replace them with agricultural land means this blanket is getting thicker, trapping in heat. The gases which make this happen "greenhouse gasses" are mainly water vapour and carbon dioxide. As humans emit more carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere the greenhouse effect becomes stronger. This causes the Earth's climate to change unnaturally and will carry on doing so with damaging effects if there are no preventative measures put in place now.
How climate change will affect you
Scientific research indicates that because of climate change we may experience more intense and more frequent weather events. A gradual increase in temperature also has major implications for ecological systems, rises in sea levels, growing seasons, crop and food supply and animals and their habitats.
Whilst the exact dates that these changes will take place is still unknown and those with more serious consequences may take hundreds of years to emerge, scientists predict that we will start to see some changes in conditions in the near future.
Climate change home
