Climate change in the future

What is climate change?

It is caused by the ‘greenhouse effect’. This happens due to interaction between energy
from the sun, the Earth’s surface and ‘greenhouse gases’ in the atmosphere.

But greenhouse
Some is reflected gases in the
back into
Sunlight reaches the Earth atmosphere
space stop this reflection back
into space

Diagram: Courtesy of NASA/JPL-

Caltech
Is climate change really happening, and if so, what is causing it?
“But the Earth’s climate has always changed naturally in the past –
I don’t think human activity is to blame now”.

• The climate has always changed naturally in the past, but those have often been in
response to predictable changes of the Earth’s orbit round the sun, and those changes
have always been at a predictable pace. The change we are seeing now is unexpected
and much quicker, so we know that the cause isn’t natural.

• Past natural changes in the Earth’s climate have often also been due to the release of
greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2). Nowadays, human activities in sectors like
transport and generating electricity are releasing these gases. In other words, humans
are doing what we know from history has caused past changes in the Earth’s climate. In
fact, CO2 from human activity is increasing more than 250 times faster than it did from
natural sources after the last Ice Age.
Burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the air
Increasing the overall temperature on
Carbondioxide is a greenhouse gas which traps heat energy
earth resulting in a lot of catastrophy
close to the earth’s surface. When it increases more heat is
trapped.
 Is climate change really happening, and if so, what is causing it?

We can see here for example, that

world temperature mirrors the
amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

We can also see that solar activity

has been steady over this period,
so we know that this isn’t causing
the temperature rise.
 Your own response to climate change – at work & home
Using the Council’s There are facilities to
fleet of electric vehicles help you cycle to work
will reduce emissions and for work trips –
from business travel. there is bike parking,
shower and locker
facilities and you can
claim cycle mileage.

You can recycle your Don’t leave equipment

food waste – it is used on stand-by – PC
to generate green energy monitors left on stand-
at the Millerhill by still use around 15 to
Digester. 20% of the electricity
they use normally.
 Your own response to climate change – at work & home
• There are many steps you can take yourself in response to climate change. These are often
easy, can save you money and can benefit your health. Examples include:

Turning off or turning down radiators in

rooms you use less often at home Using low-energy light bulbs such as
LEDs
Using the bus instead of the car
Buying fewer products that involve
‘single-use plastic’, e.g. plastic
cutlery, cups and cup lids, and Walking or cycling to
polystyrene food and drink work
containers
Switching electrical equipment off at the
socket rather than leaving it on stand-by –
Buying locally-made goods and produce
you can get a ‘stand-by’ saver which
to reduce your ‘food miles’
allows you to turn them off all in one go

• Some information sources on these actions are provided on the next page.