Fact File - Climate Change

1.	What is Climate Change?
	Climate change happens when the global earth temperature goes up or down to such an extent that the normal seasonal and weather patterns change and continue to change. A one-off hot summer does not mean that there is climate change, but if the earth's temperature consistently increases then that becomes “Climate Change”. The earth's temperature has risen by about 1°c in the past 100 years, and scientists believe that the temperature is not only going up, but going up faster. Some predict a change of 5-8°c for the next 100 years, this could raise sea levels by ½ metre - enough to sink some islands and cause great difficulty for low-lying coastal regions. But sea-level change is not the only consequence, an increase in temperature affects the weather: hotter summers and winters; more hurricanes, floods and drought wildlife: migratory patterns change, some species may be at risk humans: it is anticipated that the nations that are struggling with the worst extremes of weather now (through drought and flooding) are also the nations that are least able to cope with further change because of poverty.
2.	What are Greenhouse gases?
	Greenhouse gases consist of 6 gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulphur hexafluoride), the most common of which is carbon dioxide. They are called greenhouse gases because they keep the warmth on the earth in, rather than letting it out into space. The earth needs to keep some warmth in, otherwise we would freeze, but if we keep too much warmth in it causes global warming, which in turn affects the climate, which in turn affects all our lives. In 2005, the UK contributed 2% of global man-made emissions (22-25 billion tonnes), of which: Carbon Dioxide contributed 84% Methane contributed 8%. 40% of this was was landfill, 37% from agriculture. Nitrous Oxide contributed 6%. Most of this was from agriculture, but 13% comes from transportation.
3.	What is a carbon footprint?
	The carbon footprint is a rough measure of how much CO₂ your life contributes to the world. Obviously, there are some parts of your footprint that you can do little about, namely, breathing, but you have control over other elements of your footprint. They include: transportation electricity and gas usage food - did you know that to produce 1KG of meat, 3-4KGs of Methane and Nitrous Oxide is emitted? That's without the packaging. manufactured products
4.	How can I calculate my carbon footprint?
	There are a number of sites on the internet that provide “calculators”. Most tend to focus on transportation and direct domestic electric and gas consumption, which is perfectly acceptable in order to get an idea of your footprint. To get a more accurate figure, you should also factor in your indirect footprint from food and manufactured products.
5.	What is the IPCC?
	The IPCC or Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a group of experts, set up in 1988 by UNEP (UN Environmental Programme) and WMO (World Meteorological Organisation). They do not have policy-making powers, but they try to provide information in such a way that governments can make policy from their reports. The experts are drawn from academia, industry and the NGO sector.
6.	How do scientists know about historical carbon dioxide concentrations?
	Scientists only have direct historical records going back about 150 years. In order to calculate historical atmospheric CO2 concentrations beyond 150 years, scientists look at captured CO2 concentrations in ice and rock. The evidence from ice and rock shows that concentrations have been fairly steady at a bit under 300ppm (parts-per-million) up until the beginning of the 20th century. In 2000 concentrations in the atmosphere were at about 360ppm. According to projections, if we continue to use fossil fuels intensively, the concentrations will be up to 1000ppm by 2100, this is higher than anytime in the last 440,000 years.
7.	Can't we just store CO2 rather than release it into the atmosphere?
	The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) studied this possibility. There are a number of options, such as: bury it in the ground pump it into the oceans (either as a gas or in liquid form), and “mineral carbonation” (adding CO2 to Calcium or Magnesium). Their conclusions were that burying CO2 has potential, but there are limits and risks of leakage. Pumping it into the oceans is also possible, but there could be ecosystem consequences which they are really unsure about. As for mineral carbonation, this is such a new technology that they could not determine its feasibility, cost and risk. In the end, however, these methods alone would not be sufficient to counter projected CO2 concentrations.

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