CLIMATE CHANGE SCIENCE TIPS
WHAT IS CLIMATE?
The words weather and climate mean different things! Weather is the state of the atmosphere at a specific place and time, and climate is the average weather in a particular location over many years!
WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE?
Climate change is the terminology we use to describe the changes that are taking place in our climate due to increased CO2 in the atmosphere. These changes include increased temperatures, shrinking glaciers, and more erratic weather patterns.
HOW DOES CLIMATE CHANGE WORK?
The excess CO2 in our earth's comes mostly from the fossil fuels (gasoline) our cars burn! We're digging millions-of-years old carbon out of the earth in the form of fossil fuels and natural gasses, and burning it very quickly!
Over the last 400,000 years, the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere has fluctuated between 180 and 280 parts per million (ppm) in the atmosphere. However, in just the past 50 years it's shot up to nearly 400 ppm!
At the same time, the earth's global mean temperature has increased as well! The global mean temperature of this planet has increased by about .8 degrees C in the last 100 years, and it's going to increase more, between 2-5 degrees C, by the year 2100!
A lot of this warming has gone to the ocean, and the oceans are now more acidic than they used to be. Glaciers throughout the planet are shrinking. Ocean levels are rising, and the weather on earth is becoming much more erratic with more floods, droughts, and hurricanes!
Climate change could potentially cause many health problems in the future, including heat stroke, allergies, and asthma!
