Climate Change Explained

You might have heard of 'climate change' or 'global warming'. Every time you drive a car, or fly somewhere in an aeroplane, or even watch TV, or turn on a light, you use energy. This energy mainly comes from burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Burning these fuels means that 'greenhouse gasses' are released into the atmosphere. This causes the Earth to slowly warm up. Scientists agree that the warming up of the planet has caused the climate to become a lot more extreme and unpredictable. Hurricanes, droughts, heatwaves and floods are all caused by fast changing weather patterns.

In the last few years, we have seen weather conditions become more extreme than ever before. Last year was the hottest year in the UK ever. The ice on the North Pole has been melting very fast over the last few years because temperatures are rising rapidly. This in turn has reduced the time that mother polar bears can feed themselves and their young. With no ice, there is no place for polar bears to live. In the future sea levels are also expected to rise and cause enormous floods due to the melting of this sea ice.

Report from the UK

In the UK the government and the media have recently been giving a lot of attention to Climate Change. Even Tony Blair, the Prime Minister has said that it is 'the biggest threat mankind faces'. Many people are changing the way they use energy. For example they have been cycling, buying food from local producers and recycling their waste. Many people are also angry. They have directed their anger at politicians who talk about these problems but do little to stop the causes. For example, plans for the building of new nuclear power stations have been announced and many airports are being expanded in the UK. This seems strange as flying is the most polluting form of transport and one of the major causes of climate change.

Hundreds of people came together and set up the 'Climate Camp' last August to say they had had enough. It was held near Drax power station, which is powered by coal and very polluting. Actions took place during the camp and a kids block marched to the gates of the power station to demand it should be shut down. Another (nuclear) powerstation was also blockaded for over 10 hours! In September a large group of people including some children occupied a runway on an airport to demand a stop to short haul flights. Since then, many groups have been set up to actively fight climate change in cities all across the UK and beyond. The Climate Camp is happening again this year and many groups from all over the country are already taking part in organising it.

Climate Change is a very big and complicated issue. Most scientists now believe that in 10 years from now, if we don't soon change the way we live, produce, consume and travel, climate change might have become irriversible and unstoppable. It is everybody's responsibility to address these issues and to prevent our global climate getting even more out of control. It is up to all of us. Politicians however, have the power to change things on a much larger scale. When will they wake up?

Links

Media: Climate Chaos Topicpage | Climate Indymedia | Climate Change News

Climate Resources for kids: Cool Kids for a Cool Climate | The EPA Climate Change Kids Site | Climate Kids by the South East Regional Climate Centre | More Climate Change links for kids

Climate Action: Camp for Climate Action | Plane Stupid | Rising Tide

Radio: Climate Radio

Video: from Clearerchannel.org