About Climate Change
There is already so much excess carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere from our burning of fossil fuels that temperatures will rise and the climate change faster than at any other time in our history. This will have potentially devastating impacts. Sea level is set to rise for another 800 years as ice caps and glaciers melt and the oceans expand with the increased warmth. The debate among scientists is not whether climate change is happening, but how quickly it will happen, how bad its effects will be and what nasty surprises it holds in store. There are still those that say there is plenty of time to react, but there is increasing evidence that unless action is taken quickly global warming may run out of control. For civilisation to survive and prosper, action is essential.
Paul Brown
Environment Correspondent, The Guardian
Want to learn more about why and how our climate is changing?
The following sites explain how the things we do every day are affecting our climate for the worse. They also describe some of the impacts which we can expect as a result of global warming, and some solutions for reducing levels of greenhouse gases.
BBC Weather
BBC News
The United Nations
Already understand the basics and want more detailed information on how the world will be affected by climate change?
The following links are more technical in their content, but give detailed information on the possible impacts of climate change (including the risk of abrupt or extreme impact climate events), and on the measures required to stop dangerous climate change.
The Hadley Centre
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Want to know what companies and governments are doing to make things better?
Try The Climate Group’s case studies page which will give you information on those organisations, in both the public and private sector, which are taking the lead on emissions reduction – many of whom have saved significant sums of money as a result.
Other sites which highlight work being done to reduce emissions include:
Want to join the climate change debate?
You can post comments about climate change and about the NorthSouthEastWest photos on this site. Between mid-April and early June 2005, Open Democracy is running an online debate on climate change, featuring contributions by some of the most prominent players in the field as well as from the general public.
Want to keep up-to-date with the latest news on climate change?
There are a number of sites which will keep you up-to-date on climate change news from around the world. Some of the best ones include:
Climate Ark
The Guardian
The Heat is Online
Want to make a difference?
There is plenty that you can do to minimise your own carbon footprint, from switching off the lights to switching to a ‘green’ energy tariff. The Climate Group’s Climate Challenge has a quiz to determine your personal greenhouse gas profile, and then provides personally tailored suggestions on what you can do to help fight climate change, with useful links to get you started.
The following pages will also give you some good ideas:
UK Green Energy Suppliers from Friends of the Earth
Top 10 climate-friendly cars
Creative ways to go ‘carbon neutral’ from Future Forests