OUR WORLD
We need to cut out most of our worlds carbon emissions that pump CO2 into our atmosphere!
WHAT HAPPENS IF WE DON'T ACT?
Some of the impacts from these changes to our climate system include:
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Risk to water supplies
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Conflict and climate migrants
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Localised flooding
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Flooding of coastal regions
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Damage to marine ecosystems
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Fisheries failing
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Loss of biodiversity
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Change in seasonality
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Heat stress
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Habitable region of pests expands
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Forest mortality and increased risk of fires
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Damage to infrastructure
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Food insecurity
WHAT ARE WE DOING TO HARM?
Human causes of climate change
Humans cause climate change by releasing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the air. Today, there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than there ever has been in at least the past 2 million years. During the 20th and 21st century, the level of carbon dioxide rose by 40%.
We produce greenhouse gases in lots of different ways:
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Burning fossil fuels – Fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal contain carbon dioxide that has been 'locked away' in the ground for thousands of years. When we take these out of the land and burn them, we release the stored carbon dioxide into the air.
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Deforestation – Forests remove and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Cutting them down means that carbon dioxide builds up quicker since there are no trees to absorb it. Not only that, trees release the carbon they stored when we burn them.
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Agriculture – Planting crops and rearing animals releases many different types of greenhouse gases into the air. For example, animals produce methane, which is 30 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. The nitrous oxide used for fertilisers is ten times worse and is nearly 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide!
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Cement – Producing cement is another contributor to climate change, causing 2% of our entire carbon dioxide emissions.
THE AFFECT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Today, though, we have seen more than 1 °C of warming over the past 160 years. Most of this warming has taken place in the last 50 years. This warming is many times faster than the natural warming that followed glacial periods.
One thing that natural and modern climate change have in common is the link between warming and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Carbon dioxide levels are rising rapidly today, but this has also happened naturally in Earth’s history.