Climate is the usual weather of a place. Climate can be different for different seasons.

A place
might be mostly warm and dry in the summer. The same place may be cool and wet in the
winter. Different places can have different climates. You might live where it snows all the time.
And some people live where it is always warm enough to swim outside!

You might know what weather is. Weather is the changes we see and feel outside from day to
day. It might rain one day and be sunny the next. Sometimes it is cold. Sometimes it is hot.
Weather also changes from place to place. People in one place might be wearing shorts and
playing outside. At the same time, people far away might be shoveling snow.

There's also Earth's climate. Earth's climate is what you get when you combine all the climates
around the world together.

Climate is sometimes mistaken for weather. But climate is different from weather
because it is measured over a long period of time, whereas weather can change from
day to day, or from year to year. The climate of an area includes seasonal temperature
and rainfall averages, and wind patterns. Different places have different climates. A
desert, for example, is referred to as an arid climate because little water falls, as rain or
snow, during the year. Other types of climate include tropical climates, which are hot
and humid, and temperate climates, which have warm summers and cooler winters.

What is CLIMATE CHANGE?

Climate change is a change in the usual weather found in a place. This could be a change in how
much rain a place usually gets in a year. Or it could be a change in a place's usual temperature
for a month or season.

Climate change is also a change in Earth's climate. This could be a change in Earth's usual
temperature. Or it could be a change in where rain and snow usually fall on Earth.

Weather can change in just a few hours. Climate takes hundreds or even millions of years to
change.

Climate change is the long-term alteration of temperature and typical weather patterns
in a place. Climate change could refer to a particular location or the planet as a whole.
Climate change may cause weather patterns to be less predictable. These unexpected
weather patterns can make it difficult to maintain and grow crops in regions that rely on
farming because expected temperature and rainfall levels can no longer be relied on.
Climate change has also been connected with other damaging weather events such as
more frequent and more intense hurricanes, floods, downpours, and winter storms.

In polar regions, the warming global temperatures associated with climate change have
meant ice sheets and glaciers are melting at an accelerated rate from season to
season. This contributes to sea levels rising in different regions of the planet. Together
with expanding ocean waters due to rising temperatures, the resulting rise in sea
level has begun to damage coastlines as a result of increased flooding and erosion.

The cause of current climate change is largely human activity, like burning fossil fuels,
like natural gas, oil, and coal. Burning these materials releases what are called
greenhouse gases into Earth’s atmosphere. There, these gases trap heat from the sun’s
rays inside the atmosphere causing Earth’s average temperature to rise. This rise in the
planet's temperature is called global warming. The warming of the planet impacts local
and regional climates. Throughout Earth's history, climate has continually changed.
When occuring naturally, this is a slow process that has taken place over hundreds and
thousands of years. The human influenced climate change that is happening now is
occuring at a much faster rate.

Climate is the average weather in a place over many years. Climate change is a shift in
those average conditions.
The rapid climate change we are now seeing is caused by humans using oil, gas and
coal for their homes, factories and transport.
When these fossil fuels burn, they releases greenhouse gases - mostly carbon dioxide
(CO2). These gases trap the Sun's heat and cause the planet's temperature to rise.

The world is now about 1.2C warmer than it was in the 19th Century - and the amount
of CO2 in the atmosphere has risen by 50%.

Temperature rises must slow down if we want to avoid the worst consequences of
climate change, scientists say. They say global warming needs to be kept to 1.5C by
2100.
However, unless further action is taken, the planet could still warm by more than 2C by
the end of this century.
If nothing is done, scientists think global warming could exceed 4C, leading to devastating
heatwaves, millions losing their homes to rising sea levels and irreversible loss of plant
and animal species.

 
Is Earth's Climate Changing?

Earth's climate is always changing. There have been times when Earth's climate has been warmer
than it is now. There have been times when it has been cooler. These times can last thousands or
millions of years.

People who study Earth see that Earth's climate is getting warmer. Earth's temperature has gone
up about one degree Fahrenheit in the last 100 years. This may not seem like much. But small
changes in Earth's temperature can have big effects.

Some effects are already happening. Warming of Earth's climate has caused some snow and ice
to melt. The warming also has caused oceans to rise. And it has changed the timing of when
certain plants grow.

What Is Causing Earth's Climate to Change?

Many things can cause climate to change all on its own. Earth's distance from the sun can
change. The sun can send out more or less energy. Oceans can change. When a volcano erupts, it
can change our climate.

Most scientists say that humans can change climate too. People drive cars. People heat and cool
their houses. People cook food. All those things take energy. One way we get energy is by
burning coal, oil and gas. Burning these things puts gases into the air. The gases cause the air to
heat up. This can change the climate of a place. It also can change Earth's climate.

The cause of current climate change is largely human activity, like burning fossil fuels,
like natural gas, oil, and coal. Burning these materials releases what are called
greenhouse gases into Earth’s atmosphere. There, these gases trap heat from the sun’s
rays inside the atmosphere causing Earth’s average temperature to rise. This rise in the
planet's temperature is called global warming. The warming of the planet impacts local
and regional climates. Throughout Earth's history, climate has continually changed.
When occuring naturally, this is a slow process that has taken place over hundreds and
thousands of years. The human influenced climate change that is happening now is
occuring at a much faster rate.
 What is the impact of climate change?
Extreme weather events are already more intense, threatening lives and livelihoods.
With further warming, some regions could become uninhabitable, as farmland turns into
desert. In other regions, the opposite is happening, with extreme rainfall causing historic
flooding - as seen recently in China, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
People in poorer countries will suffer the most as they do not have the money to adapt
to climate change. Many farms in developing countries already have to endure climates
that are too hot and this will only get worse.

What Might Happen to Earth's Climate

Scientists think that Earth's temperature will keep going up for the next 100 years. This would
cause more snow and ice to melt. Oceans would rise higher. Some places would get hotter. Other
places might have colder winters with more snow. Some places might get more rain. Other
places might get less rain. Some places might have stronger hurricanes.

Our oceans and its habitats are also under threat. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia,
for example, has already lost half of its corals since 1995 due to warmer seas driven by
climate change.
Wildfires are becoming more frequent as climate change increases the risk of hot, dry
weather.
And as frozen ground melts in places like Siberia, greenhouse gases trapped for
centuries will be released into the atmosphere, worsening climate change.
In a warmer world, animals will find it harder to find the food and water they need to live.
For example, polar bears could die out as the ice they rely on melts away, and
elephants will struggle to find the 150-300 litres of water a day they need.
Scientists believe at least 550 species could be lost this century if action is not taken.

How will different parts of the world be affected?

Climate change has different effects in different areas of the world. Some places will
warm more than others, some will receive more rainfall and others will face more
droughts.
If temperature rise cannot be kept within 1.5C:
 The UK and Europe will be vulnerable to flooding caused by extreme rainfall
 Countries in the Middle East will experience extreme heatwaves and farmland could turn
to desert
 Island nations in the Pacific region could disappear under rising seas
 Many African nations are likely to suffer droughts and food shortages
 Drought conditions are likely in the western US, while other areas will see more intense
storms
 Australia is likely to suffer extremes of heat and drought
 What are governments doing?
Countries agree climate change can only be tackled by working together, and in a
landmark agreement in Paris in 2015, they pledged to try to keep global warming to
1.5C.
The UK is hosting a summit for world leaders, called COP26, in November, where
countries will set out their carbon reduction plans for 2030.
Many countries have pledged to get to net zero by 2050. This means reducing
greenhouse gas emissions as much as possible and balancing out remaining emissions
by absorbing an equivalent amount from the atmosphere.
Experts agree that this is achievable, but it will require governments, businesses and
individuals to make big changes.

What can individuals do?

Major changes need to come from governments and businesses, but scientists say
some small changes in our lives can limit our impact on the climate:
 Take fewer flights
 Live car-free or use an electric car
 Buy energy efficient products, such as washing machines, when they need replacing
 Switch from a gas heating system to an electric heat pump
 Insulate your home.
 Stop Cutting Down Trees—Every year, 33 million acres of forests are
cut down. Timber harvesting in the tropics alone contributes 1.5 billion
metric tons of carbon to the atmosphere. That represents 20 percent of
human-made greenhouse gas emissions and a source that could be
avoided relatively easily.

 Improved agricultural practices along with paper recycling and forest

management—balancing the amount of wood taken out with the amount
of new trees growing—could quickly eliminate this significant chunk of
emissions.

 And when purchasing wood products, such as furniture or flooring, buy

used goods or, failing that, wood certified to have been sustainably
harvested. The Amazon and other forests are not just the lungs of the
earth, they may also be humanity's best short-term hope for limiting
climate change.
 Unplug—Believe it or not, U.S. citizens spend more money on
electricity to power devices when off than when on. Televisions, stereo
 equipment, computers, battery chargers and a host of other gadgets and
appliances consume more energy when seemingly switched off, so
unplug them instead.
limate change is happening now, and it’s the most serious threat to life on our
planet. Fortunately, there are plenty of solutions to climate change, they are well-
understood.
In 2015, world leaders signed a major treaty called the Paris agreement, to put these
solutions into practice.
Core to all climate change solutions is reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which
must get to zero as soon as possible. 
Because both forests and oceans play vitally important roles in regulating our climate,
increasing the natural ability of forests and oceans to absorb carbon dioxide can also
help stop global warming. 
The main ways to stop climate change are to pressure government and business to:
 Keep fossil fuels in the ground. Fossil fuels include coal, oil and gas – and the
more that are extracted and burned, the worse climate change will get. All countries
need to move their economies away from fossil fuels as soon as possible.
 Invest in renewable energy. Changing our main energy sources to clean and
renewable energy is the best way to stop using fossil fuels. These include technologies
like solar, wind, wave, tidal and geothermal power.
 Switch to sustainable transport. Petrol and diesel vehicles, planes and ships
use fossil fuels. Reducing car use, switching to electric vehicles and minimising plane
travel will not only help stop climate change, it will reduce air pollution too.
 Help us keep our homes cosy. Homes shouldn’t be draughty and cold – it’s a
waste of money, and miserable in the winter. The government can help households
heat our homes in a green way – such as by insulating walls and roofs and switching
away from oil or gas boilers to heat pumps.
 Improve farming and encourage vegan diets. One of the best ways for
individuals to help stop climate change is by reducing their meat and dairy
consumption, or by going fully vegan. Businesses and food retailers can improve
farming practices and provide more plant-based products to help people make the
shift.
 Restore nature to absorb more carbon. The natural world is very good at
cleaning up our emissions, but we need to look after it. Planting trees in the right
places or giving land back to nature through ‘rewilding’ schemes is a good place to
start. This is because photosynthesising plants draw down carbon dioxide as they
grow, locking it away in soils.
 Protect forests like the Amazon. Forests are crucial in the fight against
climate change, and protecting them is an important climate solution. Cutting down
forests on an industrial scale destroys giant trees which could be sucking up huge
 amounts of carbon. Yet companies destroy forests to make way for animal farming,
soya or palm oil plantations. Governments can stop them by making better laws.
 Protect the oceans. Oceans also absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide from
the atmosphere, which helps to keep our climate stable. But many are overfished, used
for oil and gas drilling or threatened by deep sea mining. Protecting oceans and the
life in them is ultimately a way to protect ourselves from climate change.
 Reduce how much people consume. Our transport, fashion, food and other
lifestyle choices all have different impacts on the climate. This is often by design –
fashion and technology companies, for example, will release far more products than
are realistically needed. But while reducing consumption of these products might be
hard, it’s most certainly worth it. Reducing overall consumption in more wealthy
countries can help put less strain on the planet.
 Reduce plastic. Plastic is made from oil, and the process of extracting, refining
and turning oil into plastic (or even polyester, for clothing) is surprisingly carbon-
intense. It doesn’t break down quickly in nature so a lot of plastic is burned, which
contributes to emissions. Demand for plastic is rising so quickly that creating and
disposing of plastics will account for 17% of the global carbon budget by 2050 (this is
the emissions count we need to stay within according to the Paris agreement).

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, and to feel that climate change is too big to solve. But
we already have the answers, now it’s a question of making them happen. To work, all
of these solutions need strong international cooperation between governments and
businesses, including the most polluting sectors. 

Individuals can also play a part by making better choices about where they get their
energy, how they travel, and what food they eat. But the best way for anyone to help
stop climate change is to take collective action. This means pressuring governments
and corporations to change their policies and business practices.