Sometimes when people say the climate is getting warmer it sounds quite nice – most of us would love a warm summer but it isn’t that simple.
Weather and climate are different things – here’s a video from Marina Ventura who is going to show the difference between weather and climate.
Climate change is long term changes in Earth’s temperature. The climate has changed throughout Earth’s history but this time it’s different. The actions of humans are causes the temperature to rise faster than at any time in Earth’s history.
When Climate Change happens it impacts things all across the world. This is why it’s important we try and stop Climate Change getting worse.
Everything on Earth is connected. For example, as the climate warms this is melting glaciers in Antarctica, this has a knock on impact as it causes rising sea levels which can lead to floods in other places on Earth. So a nice hot English summer isn’t as nice as it sounds when it impacts so many other things.
Places near the sea could be at risk because they are near high tide causing entire nations to disappear. It also affects our fresh drinking water supply as sea water comes into contact with fresh water.
You can conduct an experiment to see how melting glaciers cause the sea level to rise.
EXPERIMENT: Let’s put a block of ice in a Tupperware with a cup of water and mark on the Tupperware with a marker where the water level is….revisit the experiment and sea if the water level is above where you put the marker.
Other places will face droughts caused by climate change making the weather very hot and dry. A drought is when we don’t have enough water needed to drink or grow food.
We are already seeing the effects of Climate Change
Climate Change is a big factor behind Wildfires in California and Australia that you might have seen on the news last year.
Here are some pictures of how climate change has changed our world already
Coral Reef Bleaching: The main cause of coral bleaching, which is when the coral loses its colour, is climate change. A warming planet means a warming ocean, and a change in water temperature—as little as 1 degree—can cause coral to drive out algae which colours it. Coral may bleach for other reasons for example from pollution.
Wildfires: Climate change increases the risk of the hot, dry weather that is likely to fuel wildfires. Extreme fire weather events including increased lightning and strong winds, are also becoming more common under climate change.
Flooding in Bangladesh: flooding in Bangladesh is predicted to become more extreme due to cyclonic storm surges and rising sea levels. … Much of the nation is exposed, as 80% of Bangladesh is flood plain meaning it is at a big risk of flooding. The majority of the country a metre or less above sea level.
To protect humans, wildlife and our planet we need to stop climate change happening further.