Causes, effects and solutions.

ByHeather Clark

This is often called global warming, but is better referred to as climate change because it is all of the climate changing, not just temperature.Some people might think that getting warmer won’t do any harm, but it would be disastrous for large parts of the world. You could even describe the effects as catastrophic.

The main cause is CO2. These emissions have increased considerably due to burning fossil fuels, cutting down trees, driving cars, wasting electricity etc. The way that the industrial world emits these pollutants cannot be sustained.

A little bit is because of the Sun, but over the last 50 years it is mainly CO2.

The rising temperature is causing the ice-caps to melt, which means sea levels will rise several feet. It also means more polar bears are drowning, as they swim for ice that was there before.

Droughts are occurring, as all the water in places dries up because of the heat. This means that more people are at risk of starvation.

More freak weather is happening.

As you can see in this prediction, the weather in the UK will become more extreme.There will be dangerously high amounts of rain in winter and in the summer we will be suffering from drought

This shows an average 20% rise in rainfall

This shows a 40% decrease in rainfall

Individuals can do a lot to reduce further damage.

Turn off lights and other electrical appliances.

Use sustainable forms of electricity like wind turbines.

Install solar panels. Don’t use cars so much. Don’t take holidays abroad so much. Buy locally grown produce.

Governments need to take action to reduce the effects of climate change.

Make laws that limit industrial emissions. Enforce strict penalties against those that

break the limits. Invest in research and development into

sustainable energy generation. Plan for the effects of the changes in

climate. Create flood defences and emergency response plans to counter the effects of freak weather.