Feeling the Heat

You’ve probably heard a lot about climate change in the news – but what is it, and what is causing it? We get down to the scientific nuts and bolts!

Highs and Lows

While Earth has experienced extremes – extreme heat and cold, such as the Ice Age – it has been more or less stable for almost two million years. But even though Earth’s climate has experienced changes in its history, the fact that it is changing noticeably during our lifetimes is uncharacteristic, and very worrying.

The Carbon Cycle

Understanding how carbon moves through our atmosphere is important to understand how our atmosphere – and climate– is changing. It’s not to be thought that all carbon is “bad” – in fact, you and other animals are releasing carbon dioxide (CO2) with every breath. Plants take in this CO2 during photosynthesis to process it for food. Carbon is again released into the atmosphere when plants respire and when biomass is broken down by decomposition, thus creating a carbon cycle. So carbon is very vital to life on the planet and is important to our Earth’s natural cycles to keep the balance in our atmosphere.

Fossil Fuels

Fossil fuels include oil, coal, and natural gas. When we dig them up and burn them for energy, they release large amounts of carbon. There is around 20 times as much carbon in fossil fuels as there is in plant matter. So, when these fuels are used in our day-to-day lives – to fuel our cars, give energy to our factories, and produce our plastics, excessive amounts of carbon dioxide, greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere.

The Sea Suffers

A warmer ocean will also not be able to dissolve as much CO2, thus affecting sea life. With CO2 entering the oceans, coral reefs

- home to many ecosystems and sea creatures, are affected by bleaching as the ocean’s acidity levels changes. Many sea creatures will not be able to survive the change and with some of the tiniest sea plants – such as algae – being very important in generating oxygen, climate change has far-reaching effects on all life in the planet.

The Heat Trap

There is a link between the increasing amounts of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, water vapour and nitrous oxide in our atmosphere, and the changes in temperature we experience. Normally, these gases help in regulating the temperatures, so that our planet is not too hot or cold. However, the rising levels of these gases in the atmosphere result in more heat being trapped from the sun, which makes the Earth warmer than it should be.

There is a link between the increasing amounts of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, water vapour and nitrous oxide in our atmosphere, and the changes in temperature we experience.

As the Earth heats up, the planet – like any living organism – reacts in numerous ways. The water cycle speeds up, and this leads to more rain, droughts, wildfires and extreme heat waves.; arctic ice melts a lot faster; warmer oceans causes sea levels to rise more quickly and certain islands could disappear as a result in the next 100 years.