Hi my name is Georgia, I am a meteorologist and I work for the MET office. My purpose for being here today is to

make you aware of the issues regarding Global warming, although we like to refer to it as climate change which in

effect it is.

If we choose to ignore the warning signs and do nothing to slow down this process, the world will become a far

different place to what it is today.

Questions and answers.

Is the earth really getting hotter?

Yes the earth really is getting hotter because over the past 50 years the global temperature has increased a lot.

Is there really cause for serious concern?

Yes. Scientists are learning more about how global warming is effecting the planet each year so they know what the consequences will be; melting glaciers and severe droughts will cause water shortage! Forests and farm will face more pests and mosquito-borne diseases .

How to prevent global warming.

• Turn your lights, TVs, computers off when your not using them don’t just put them on standby actually turn them off at the plug!

• Walk to the shops (if possible)

• Buy a greener car to help the environment.

FACTS

• One tree can absorb the amount of co2 released by an average car that has been driven for 4,000 miles.

• Every two seconds, a forest area the size of a football field is destroyed.

• Using a screensaver on the computer (based on an LCD monitor) emits 1.1kg of carbon dioxide.

• Taking a bath uses up to 1.6kg of carbon dioxide.

• 20% of the worlds electricity comes from water power.

• To make 14 plastic bags, you would need the same amount of petroleum that it would take to drive a car one mile!

What will happen if the earth heats up?

If the earth heats up these things might happen: new coastlines would have to be drawn on maps, places that now receive rain and snowfall might become hotter and much, much drier.

If there are droughts it would be very hard to grow crops. There would be less water for drinking and showers. Plants and animals may go extinct if they cannot take the heat.

THAT IS WHY WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING TODAY TO HELP SAVE US AND THE ENVIROMENT!

Now and maybe in a few years

Graph showing global average temperatures

This diagram shows the relative importance of the major human-produced greenhouse gases to current warming. CO2 is the most important followed in descending order by methane, CFCs, ozone and nitrous oxide.

Climate change facts

• In 200 years time the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the major gas that causes changes, has increased by 30%.

• Greenhouse gases are now higher than at any point in the past 800,000 years.

• Over the past 100 years near surface global temperatures have risen by 0.7 degrees Celsius.

• The ten warmest years have all been since 1990. Six of these ten have been in the U.K and were between 1995 and 2004.

Causes of climate changeThe state of the earth’s climate is largely effected by how much heat is stored in the atmosphere. Processes that effect this heat can cause the climate of the earth to change. It is not just man-made pollution of the atmosphere which can cause climate change, changes in the atmosphere of greenhouse gases in the air have occurred naturally during the history of the earth leading to climate changes.

Changes in the ocean that circulates the world can influence climate because the oceans store more heat than the atmosphere, also the change from the sun will effect the earths climate too.

Large volcanic eruptions can cause the earth to cool over a couple of years because huge amounts of pollution injected into the air, block out most of the sunlight. This type of climate change can also occur when a large comet or meteorite strikes the earth, fortunately this only happens every few million years.

What we can do individually to help make prevention of global warming

international!

• Get Educated-Educate yourself about Global warming. You won't be able to tell other people about it if you don't have knowledge of the topic yourself!

• Fill the Dishwasher -Run your dishwasher only with a full load. Save 100 lbs. of carbon dioxide.

• Use Recycled Paper -Make sure your printer paper is 100% post consumer recycled paper. Save 5 lbs. of carbon dioxide per ream of paper.

• Spread the Word

• There is a logo called Carbon Counted that companies can put on their products to communicate their carbon footprint. Look for products that have a low Carbon Counted footprint number.

There are lots of things we can do to try and prevent global warming here are some things:

Carbon footprint

I suppose you are wondering what a carbon footprint is as I mentioned in the previous slide? Well this is what it is:

A carbon footprint is a representation of the effect human activities have on the climate (the total amount of greenhouse gases produced). It is measured in units of carbon dioxide. Many activities generate carbon emissions which accelerate global warming and climate change.