Climate Change
What is climate change? 
Climate change is a large-scale, long-term shift in the planet’s weather patterns and average temperatures.
Global temperatures have risen significantly over the 20th and 21st centuries, driven primarily by the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2).
What causes climate change?
Since the Industrial Revolution, atmospheric CO2 has increased by over 40% to levels that are unprecedented in at least 800,000 years. This has caused warming throughout the climate system, and multiple indicators show evidence that our climate is changing.
The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen, and the concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased.
Higher temperatures
Global average surface temperature has increased by about 1 °C since the 1850s. Each of the last three decades has been successively warmer than any other preceding decade in the instrumental record, and 16 of the 17 warmest years on record have occurred since the year 2001.
What you can do?
- Give nature a helping hand by planting trees or growing your own vegetables and fruits. Plants and trees help to remove the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the air as they grow. By growing or buying local produce you’ll also help to reduce the emissions created by transporting food, therefore reducing the carbon footprint.
- You can also reduce your own carbon footprint by thinking about how you move and travel. Try to walk or cycle if you can and reduce the amount of energy you use by switching to green energy providers such as those that use solar and other renewable energy sources.
- Reduce, reuse and recycle to help reduce waste.
- Think about the sustainability and life-span of products. Ask yourself, “can it be reused?”
- Save water and energy by reducing water wastage.
For more information see: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate-guide/climate-change
