What you can do to help Climate Change

You can lower your carbon footprint quite easily. Some suggestions on how Climate change affects us all in one way or another, be it flooding, drought,
to do this are below: increase in temperature, or loss of crops to name but a few. Much scientific
research has been conducted on this issue and it has been established that
• Turn off lighting and electrical appliances when not in use the main cause for this is down to human activity, although natural processes
• Only boil as much water in your kettle as needed do of course contribute towards this. Deforestation is another major factor in
• Take showers instead of baths contributing towards climate change. It makes up 40% of all carbon emitted
by human activity. A major part of the deforestation process is in the burning
• Walk/cycle if possible or car share/take the bus
of the forests, causing huge levels of CO2. An increase in animal agriculture
• Only purchase food that will be consumed
that is moving into these razed forests also causes a huge increase of other
• Recycle where possible
harmful gases, such as methane. As humans are carnivores more animals
• Compost food waste are bred for human consumption, therefore the result being more harmful
• Use saucepan lids whilst cooking methane they produce! Amazingly scientists have found that one molecule of
• Turn the thermostat down methane alone will produce 20 times the effect of global warming than CO2.
• Send less to landfill
As we go about our daily lives we are constantly using up valuable yet harmful
resources such as coal, oil and gas. These fossil fuels are mainly used to
give us lighting, heat up our homes and offices and to run our cars. However,
industry is the “major” culprit particularly the iron, steel and oil industries.

These day to day activities produce CO2 gases, the main cause of climate
change. An increase in energy consumption through “must have” appliances
and appliances left on stand-by all contribute towards the increase in CO2
emissions, on top of the increased consumption of energy in the production to
-make them. This increase in carbon emissions (CO2) contributes towards
the depletion of the ozone layer. This allows more of the suns harmful rays
to penetrate the earth’s atmosphere which heats up our oceans. The warmer
oceans then in turn melt the ice caps, and fewer ice caps therefore reflect less
of the harmful rays back into space. .

The South Pole contains 70% of the earth’s fresh water. The icebergs there
are up to 5km in depth. If they all melted sea levels would increase by 50 –
60 meters which would cause a major catastrophe to the world as we know it.
Greenland is another major ice cap which is north-east of Canada. If that ice
cap melted, there would be an increase of sea levels of 5 -6meters and
alarmingly all it would take for that to happen is a rise of 2C on global
temperatures.

Most of the Arctic has warmed up over the last twenty years, with sea ice
melting a t a rate of 9% per decade. Not surprisingly the biggest increase has
been around North America, which is responsible for more greenhouse
pollution than other continents.
Impacts on the env
environment
Climatologists from all over the world have worked together to assess climate
changing information that has been amassed. They found that natural cycles
could not explain these changes and they concluded that:
The Maldives are constantly under threat of becoming permanently
submerged by the ocean as they are only about 1.5 meters above sea level.
They are a group of approximately 1,200 coral islands in the Indian Ocean. If
they were to become submerged it would mean that their entire populations
would have to relocate to safer ground, putting extra strain on other countries
as well as changing the face of the earth forever.
As Polar Regions melt many species and habitats around the world are
affected. Some species are finding it difficult to survive or adapt and are
heading towards extinction. These include polar bears, Amur leopards, blue
fin tuna, certain fish and plantain and the beautiful coral reefs.
Photo Photo
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Action by the UK Government
The UK government is attempting to lower carbon dioxide emissions by;
• ensuring that 40 per cent of electricity will come from low carbon
sources, including renewable energy and nuclear power
• halving the amount of gas imported
• promoting carbon capture and storage (capturing the CO2 that’s given
off when fossil fuels like coal are burnt, and storing it safely
underground)
• supporting new fuels and technologies (like electric cars) to reduce
CO2 emissions from transport
• Setting ‘carbon budgets’ to cap the UK’s overall CO2 emissions – if
emissions rise in one sector, savings will have to be made elsewhere.
Source: Crown copyright.
The UK Government’s Pledge
A reduction of 60% has been pledged by the UK government
in respect of CO2 emissions by 2050.