Newsletter
Climate change1 May 2004
Floods in Mozambique. Drought in Australia. Forest fires in Europe. Hurricanes in Florida. Storms in the UK. The effects of a warming world are serious. What's causing it?
Science of climate change
Climate change is caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other polluting gases in our atmosphere.
The gases trap heat by forming a blanket around the Earth - like the glass of a greenhouse.
Once released the greenhouse gases stay in the atmosphere for many years. As they build up, the planet's temperature rises.
Greenhouse gases are released by burning fossil fuels - coal, oil and gas - and by cutting down forests.
As the Earth warms up, other processes - like the disappearance of ice and release of frozen methane - are helping push temperatures even higher.
Did you know?
- The Earth is warming faster than it has for thousands of years. The 10 hottest years on record have happened since 1997.
Impacts
Your neighbourhood may not feel like a disaster movie today, but we're already seeing the impacts of global warming:
- Chaotic weather
- Rising sea levels
- Drought
- Mass extinction of species.
Some of these effects are hitting the poorest people hardest - with flooded homes and failing harvests.
And it's not only in developing countries. Around 25,000 people died in the heat wave that hit Western Europe in 2003. The World Health Organisation (PDF) believes this is what we can expect from climate change.
If we don't take action now, climate change will make a billion people homeless. Read our summary of the key impacts of climate change.
Most governments agree we shouldn't let the worst happen - and that means keeping average global temperatures to no more than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
You can help turn their words into action.
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