Climate Action

Global warming and extreme weather
The Problem

1. THE PROBLEM

Have you ever thought about how much the weather impacts life on earth?

Weather patterns affect everything, from the food that you eat, to how animals behave, to how the oceans stay healthy.

The problem is that human activity is causing weather patterns on Earth to change. Human activities, such as burning fossil fuels to create energy to power our homes, cars and factories, are releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which are trapping heat and causing the Earth to warm. This has knock on effects on weather patterns, like having more heatwaves, droughts, floods, fires and storms, impacting life on earth.

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2. The Solution

So what can we do to help?

 

There are two parts to dealing with climate change. Firstly we need to learn to cope with climate change, for example by rebuilding homes to withstand storms or planting crops that can survive hotter climates. Secondly, we need to change the way we live and work so that there are no more greenhouse emissions. This involves changing the way we get around, use electricity or even the foods that we eat!

Protest signs

3. Take Action

There are lots of ways that anyone, including you, can make a difference to combat climate change. For example, you could: walk or cycle instead of driving or protest for climate with Fridays for Future.

 

Everyone can take action to make real change. What will you do?

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4. CHARITIES

There are lots of charities that need your help to slow climate change.

For example, The Climate Coalition and Friends of the Earth campaign for people in power to make a change while Cool Earth works with rainforest communities to stop deforestation and its impact on climate change.

See how you can support them in their amazing work.

 

See how you can support them in their amazing work.

Have you ever snuggled up under a warm fluffy blanket on a winter’s night? The cosy warmth you get from a blanket happens, not because the blanket is warm, but because your body’s heat is trapped by the blanket, preventing it from leaving. That’s why it takes a little while to start feeling warm because the heat must build up under the blanket.

Greenhouses work in the same way. In a greenhouse, the sun’s light energy goes in through the glass, but the heat energy can’t leave through the glass again. This makes greenhouses nice and warm, helping plants grow in places that would otherwise be too cold.

Earth also has a type of ‘blanket’ around it – a layer of gases called greenhouse gases in the air. The greenhouse gases work like a greenhouse’s glass – the sunlight enters through them but can’t leave. Believe it or not, greenhouse gases are very important to Earth! They trap some of the Sun’s heat on the Earth’s surface and without them, Earth would be much too cold to allow anything to stay alive.

The greenhouse gases are in a delicate balance though. If the levels get too low, too much heat escapes out into space. If the levels get too high, they act like a super thick blanket, trapping too much heat on the Earth’s surface.  

Greenhouse gases have been building up too much over the last two centuries and now the Earth is warming. This is called global warming, or climate change. Climate change will cause Earth’s weather patterns to change. This might not sound like a big deal, but weather patterns affect everything – from what you can eat, to how animals behave, to how the oceans stay healthy. Since everything on Earth is connected, a problem in one part of Earth’s natural systems has a domino effect on everything else.

Climate change is creating some massive problems and it is one of the biggest problems facing humanity right now. When you start feeling too hot under a blanket, you can simply kick it off. Unfortunately, we can’t just kick the layer of greenhouse gases off our planet.

The problem

1°C

WARMING SINCE THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

30%

more greenhouse gases are in the atmosphere since 1900

197

countries have signed the Paris Agreement

Since the industrial revolution, human activity has caused the Earth to warm by about 1°C. This doesn’t sound like so much, but keep in mind that it only takes an average drop of 6°C to plunge Earth into an ice age! So, a difference of a few degrees either up or down can change life as we know it here on Earth completely.

If human behaviour carries on with no changes, we are headed for an increase of between 3-5°C by 2100. Even if we do everything we can now, the warming can still only be limited to 1.5-2°C by the end of the century, which will have severe effects on some parts of the planet.

1. Why Has the Climate Changed?

For many years, there was a perfect natural balance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, keeping Earth at just the right temperature.

But, since the industrial revolution, human activities have been releasing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

This is because, since this time, people have been digging up fossil fuels from the ground and burning them to make energy.

The problem is, when fossil fuels are burnt, they release greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.

Greenhouse gases are also released when animals (like cows and pigs) fart or when rubbish decomposes in landfill.

Greenhouse gases are making Earth warmer and warmer all the time.

Have a think about whether you know any greenhouse gas-emitting processes, then click here to see a chart of the main ways we emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

You might be wondering what the problem is – everyone likes sunny countries anyway, right? 

2. Effects of Climate Change

Climate change increases the number of heatwaves, droughts, floods, fires, storms and air pollution.

The warming of the planet has effects that you wouldn’t expect, like some regions getting hotter for a while, ice caps melting and some regions getting more rain. All of these changing weather patterns are creating problems for humans, wildlife and the planet as a whole.

Take a look at a couple of the effects of climate change below.

Poor Health

The effects of climate change pose threats to the health of people on our planet.

For example,

  • Soaring temperatures make people experience heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heatstroke
  • People may get injured during extreme events like floods and storms.
  • More heat and rainfall means that mosquitoes (who like warm and wet places) can live in more places around the world so all the diseases they carry, like malaria, can spread further.
  • Droughts make it trickier to get hold of clean water so people resort to using dirty water which may give them diarrhoeal diseases.
  • Changing climate can lead to crop failure, causing famines which cause hunger and malnutrition.
  • Seeing, and being affected by, these scary weather changes can cause people to become sad or anxious.
 
Car Trapped in a Flood
A car is trapped in a flood, causing risk of injury.
Consuming Dirty Water
A poorly child suffers from diarrhea from consuming dirty water.
Global Warming
Failed corn crop leading to famine.

Food Becoming Scarce

Extreme weather events and changing climate make it hard for farmers to grow food.

  • Storms, fires, floods, droughts, extreme heat, as well as unpredictable rainfall make it hard for crops to grow.
  • Plants could get sick more easily when they are stressed by heat.
  • When it is hot, it is very difficult to keep livestock like cattle and sheep well-fed.

All of this means that farmers could struggle to earn money and could become poorer. Some people could experience food shortages and hunger. When less food is available, it becomes more expensive.

Click here to read about the effects of the droughts in Ethiopia in 2015 (Africa) on farmer Hamid Heramo and his family.

Hamid's family.

People Losing Their Homes and Livelihoods

Extreme weather events can have devastating effects on people’s homes and livelihoods.

For example:

  • Rising temperatures cause sea ice to melt: This means there is more water in the ocean and sea levels start to rise so flat areas by the coast may go underwater and people will need to move. Click here to learn about the impacts of rising sea levels on Bangladesh.
  • Rising temperatures cause wildfires: Wildfires can spread uncontrollably over large areas, affecting homes, businesses and farms. They also release smoke that can cause breathing problems in humans and animals. Click here to read about the wildfires in Australia in 2019 and 2020.
  • Extreme rainfall causes floods: These floods can devastate people’s homes and livelihoods. When floodwater enters buildings, it can be very dangerous so people must evacuate immediately, leaving their belongings behind. Places that are near water and that are flat (without many mountains and hills) are most likely to flood. Flooding is one of the biggest climate change threats to the UK. 
Flooding in the UK
Flooding in the UK.
Sea Level Rising
Sea level rise in Bangladesh.

Unhealthy Ecosystems

Healthy ecosystems are needed for humans to be happy and healthy on Earth. Because of climate change, some species die out and then nature can’t do its job so well

For example,

  • Extreme heat is forcing some living things, like birds, plants and animals to move to cooler places because the place where they live is becoming too hot. The problem is that many species, especially plants, can’t move very far.
  • Melting ice caps mean wildlife such as walruses and polar bears are losing their homes. The arctic ice (north pole) is expected to have completely ice-free summers by 2050 so the animals won’t be able to go anywhere.

About one out of every eight species could become extinct because of climate change.

Birds Migrating
Birds migrating.
Polar Bear Losing It's Home
Polar bear loosing its home.

Struggling Economies

The effects of climate change are worse for people who are poor.

Poor people struggle more when food and water prices go up because of shortages.

Countries that are not well-off feel the effects of climate change more because they depend more on the food they grow. To make matters worse, most of these countries are in places that are hot already so they really can’t cope with getting a little bit hotter. Plus, these countries don’t have lots of money to spend on coping with problems that climate change creates.

Climate change could force 100 million people into poverty in the next 30 years.

Poverty Flooding
A community living in poverty is affected by flooding and cannot afford to spend money on dealing with it.

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