Climate Change

• 65% of Arctic ice cap melted since 1970
• Sea levels rise by 10-20cm in lost 100 years
• Temperature increases by 1 degree Celsius since 1880
• Sediment cores


  1. Analyse microbes in each layer

  2. Can tell the temperature
• Ice cores


  Measure the carbon dioxide to establish what must have been the temperature
• Climate change periods


  • Cold periods (glacial)
  • Warmer periods (interglacials)
• Carbon dioxide and temperature


  Directly linked to each other
• Natural causes of climate change

  • Milankovitch cycle (eccentricity, tilt, precession)
  • Volcanic eruptions (release carbon dioxide)
  • Solar activity (more energy received by Earth every 11 years)
• Human causes of climate change

  • Burning fossil fuels (releases carbon dioxide)
  • Deforestation
  • Agriculture (rice cultivation releases methane)
  • Cement production (releases carbon dioxide)
• Mitigation of climate change

  • Alternative energy production (wind, solar - less CO2, cheaper, reliable, good reputation)
  • Carbon capture and storage (capture carbon as liquid or solid, store underground)
  • Reforestation (trees absorb carbon and release oxygen, more ecosystem/diversity)
  • International agreements (Paris agreement 2015 - COP 21)
• Adapting to climate change

  • Change in agricultural systems
  • Managing water supply
  • Reducing risk from rising sea levels