What are the consequences and what we can do to reduce climate change?

Consequences

Consequences of climate change are the things that could happen or are already happen as a result of climate change. 

Poorer less developed nations will probably suffer most as a result of climate change.

Image: Darfur refugee camp in Chad - Mark Knobil © Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

Certain countries also have physical characteristics that can increase their vulnerability to climate change; a good example would be the small island nations.

Temperature Increases

Global temperatures have already increased by over 1°C; however the rise is not the same everywhere. The Polar regions, especially in the Arctic are warming much more than other areas.

Sea Level Rise

• The main reasons for sea level rise to do with expansion of the water as it gets warmer. 

• Currently there is a lot of ice sitting on top land in places like Greenland, Alaska, Scandinavia and in high mountain ranges. 

If this ice continues to melt then sea levels will rise. Just the ice on Greenland could increase sea levels by around 6 metres.

Map showing (in red) a 6 metre sea level rise

Image: 6m Sea Level Rise - NASA © Wikimedia Commons - Public Domain

Storms 

Image: Hurricane Isabel from ISS - Mike Trenchard, Earth Sciences & Image Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center / NASA © Wikimedia Commons - Public Domain

• Tropical storms such as hurricanes are formed by ocean temperatures above 26.5°C.
  • New areas could experience these tropical storms.

• There is growing evidence that in areas such as the UK that there is a greater frequency and severity of storms. 

Heat waves and droughts

Certain areas such as Southern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa are already experiencing these.

What Can We Do To Help Prevent Climate Change

What causes climate change? - Click below

 

Rather than thinking about the big things that governments can do we are going to think a bit more about what we can do. 

Adaptation

It makes sense to think ahead;

Image: Irrigation1 - Paulkondratuk3194 © Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported / GNU Free Documentation License

 

Ideas

Use a small group activity you know to come up with suggestions:

• Thought Shower Activity

• Group post-it challenge

• Think Pair Share

• Jigsaw to Fours to Feedback

Is it wise to continue to keep constructing new buildings on flat land next on coastlines and along the floors of river valleys? 

Can farmers change the crops that they grow? 

Can we reduce our use of water so that more is available if there is a drought?

Mitigation

What can we do to reduce the impacts of the consequences such as building new reservoirs to cope with droughts? 

What can we do if crops fail and there is a food shortage? 

Can we build flood defences to protect against sea level change and increased storms frequency and severity?

Image: Thames Barrier 03 - Andy Roberts © Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic

Emissions

How can we reduce the fossil fuels that we burn to heat our homes or travel from place to place?

What can we do with our waste? 

• Increasingly many of us are recycling our food waste but how many of us actually know where it goes? 

• It mostly goes into large tanks where it is turned into biogas.
  

Image: Biogasholder and flare - Vortexrealm © Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported / GNU Free Documentation License

• Biogas can be used to replace fossil fuels such as for:
  • Making electricity
  • Power cars (cars that currently runs on LPG can run on biogas instead)
    

Sinks

Can we stop buying products that have come from forests that have not been replanted? 

Can we plant more trees in our communities, schools and gardens?