Climate Change

Our climate is changing. Another word for it is global warming. Nobody can be 100% sure, but we have a pretty good idea how - and of what we can do to stop it.

As the sun heats our earth the rays are reflected back up into our atmosphere. But greenhouse gases like methane, carbon dioxide and water vapour form a blanket and trap the heat in our atmosphere which heats up the planet. This is called the Greenhouse Effect because it resembles what happens in a greenhouse when heat is trapped inside. The Greenhouse Effect is necessary to keep our planet warm enough, but since the Industrial Revolution Greenhouse gases have risen 30% and this will make the earth too warm. Most of the world's greenhouse gas emissions come from fuel combustion in vehicles and factories. A large source of methane, another greenhouse gas is from cow dung. Due to the specialized diets ranchers put cattle on, they belch up thousands of tons of methane emissions every year.

Over the last century the overall world temperature has risen 1 degree and overall precipitation has risen 1%. There is more rain near the north and south poles, and less in tropical areas. Sea level has risen 6-8 inches in the past century due to melting icecaps in the Arctic and Antarctic.

It might sound nice for the world to be warmer and have less winter, but that's not the way things would work out. Melting icecaps would cause ocean levels to rise and would flood coastal cities (where most of the world's population lives). The cold meltwater would disrupt vital ocean currents like the Gulf Stream that could put most of Europe into a deep freeze! Deserts would become drier and wet areas would become wetter still causing widespread floods and famine. So far, Global Warming has already caused unpredictable weather patterns like El Nino.

The US, Canada, Western Europe and Australia should be ashamed of their contribution to Global Warming. The world's richest and most industrialized nations are setting a bad example for devolping countries. In 1997 a protocol to reduce Greenhouse Gases was signed by countries around the world in Kyoto, Japan. However, the United States refused to commit and in 2001 the deal was weakened so it will do very little for Greenhouse Gas reduction at all. So far the United Kingdom is the only country to come close to reaching their 12% emissions reduction by 2010.

For suggestions on how you can help the earth click on the Help Us section of our website.