What is Climate Change?
Climate Change is the term we give to our currently changing climate.
In the past Climate Change has been a natural process, largely dependent upon the Earth's rotation around the Sun and fluctuation of energy output from the Sun.
However, today we are seeing a new type of climate change, one that has been caused by people.
Humans have altered the makeup of our atmosphere by increasing the amount of certain gases that trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere.
These gases include carbon dioxide CO2, methane CH4, nitrous oxides NOx and chloroflourocarbons. While these gases allow the energy of the Sun's rays to reach the Earth's surface, but as that energy turns to heat and seeks a way of escaping out into space, it is trapped.
The effect is similar to what occurs in a greenhouse, where the glass allows sunlight in, but prevents much of the heat generated by the sunlight once it has hit the plant from escaping back out, resulting in the green house becoming warmer.
This is why the heating of the Earth due to the release of the the aforementioned gases is called the "Greenhouse Effect" and the gases are "Greenhouse gases".
With ever increasing concentrations of Greenhouse Gases in the air, more and more heat has been trapped in our atmosphere and the earth has begun to heat up.
The temperature has risen 0.6°C over 100 years, which is significant in that the average temperature at the peak of the last ice age was only 5°C colder than today.
This increase in temperature is starting to have an impact on our climate.
We are seeing more storms, more fires, less rain, and the melting of the world's icecaps, to name a few of the of the effects
If we don't act soon to reduce the effects of climate change, our climate and ourselves will be in serious trouble.
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