Climate Change

• Evidence of climate change

  • Increasing amount of CO2 in the atmosphere
  • Frost fair on the river thames
• Quaternary period


  Period of geological time from about 2.6 million years ago to the present. During this period humans began to develop and includes the Pleistocine ice-age and holocene
• Albedo affect


  A surfaces ability to reflect light
• Causes of climate change

  • F ossil F uels
  • D eforestation
  • A griculture
  • S olar output / S unspots
  • O rbital T heory
  • V olcanic E ruptions
• Fossil fuels

  • Human
  • 50 % of greenhouse gases come from burning fossil fuels
  • Power stations to produce electricity
  • Greenhouse gases get trapped in the atmosphere and earth gets hotter
• Agriculture

  • Human
  • Contributes to 20 % of global greenhouse gasses
  • Cattle and rice emmit large amounts of methane
  • More methane in the atmosphere means temperature rises
• Sunspots

  • Natural
  • Caused by magnetic energy inside the sun
  • When there are more sunspots the temperature is higher
  • Scientists have identified 11 year sun-spot cycle where number increases from a minimum to maximum
• Orbital theory

  • Natural
  • Milankovitch Cycles
  • Earth's orbit is eliptical and this shape changes every 100,000 years so distance between earth and sun also changes
• Volcanic eruptions

  • Natural
  • Release ash and gas which forms a blanket around the earth and stops sun getting through so the planet gets colder
  • Ash is grey so albedo effect
  • Global temperatures can drop by 0.5 c
• 65 % of arctic ice cap melted since 1970
• Sea levels have risen by 10-20 cm in last 100 years
• Effects of climate change

  • Food and water insecurity
  • Drought
  • Flooding
  • Temperature increase
  • Loss of biodiversity
  • Health decrease
• Mitigation

  • trying to stop climate change from happening
  • E.g. carbon capture and storage, planting trees, alternative energy production, international agreements
• Adaptation

  • Making adjustments to our environment as the change takes place
  • Building sea defences, managing water supplies (recycling rainwater)