What is Climate Change?
Everyone’s talking about Climate Change or Global Warming – but what’s it all about? Global Warming is the result of a build up of greenhouse gases (GHG) - chiefly carbon dioxide - in the atmosphere. GHGs trap the sun’s heat in the earth’s atmosphere, creating the much talked about ‘greenhouse effect’ – a natural phenomena that keeps the earth warm. BUT, when the concentration of GHGs gets too high, and the earth’s equilibrium gets out of balance, then a dangerous rise in temperatures is experienced which can result in severe and extreme weather conditions. So the earth’s blanket thickens and our atmosphere absorbs and holds more heat than it radiates back. This could directly affect rainfall, flooding and droughts, agriculture, economies, health etc.
We, as human beings, are largely responsible for the rise in GHGs, burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas. It is projected that global temperatures will rise an additional 1.6 to 5.5 degrees Celsius by this century's end.