What is Climate Change?
Climate change affects all of us
Climate refers to the average weather experienced over a long period. This includes temperature, wind and rainfall patterns. The climate of the Earth is not static, and has changed many times in response to a variety of natural causes.
The main human influence on global climate is likely to be emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. At present, about 6.5 billion tonnes of CO2 is emitted globally each year, mostly through burning coal, oil and gas for energy.
Climate Change is already happening. Globally, the ten hottest years on record have all occurred since the beginning of the 1990's. Current climate models predict that global temperatures could warm from between 1.4 to 5.8ºC over the next 100 years, depending on the amounts of greenhouse gasses emitted and the sensitivity of the climate system.*
*Defra
