What is climate change?

The Greenhouse Effect

Most heat
escapes but
some is kept
Greenhouse
gases
More
gases
More heat
trapped warming
the Earth
Gas
Increases
www.greenhouse.gov.au
Temperature Increases
Melting sea ice in the Arctic
1979 2003
More weather related disasters
100
200
300
0
geo-
physical
Number of disasters
hydro-
meteorological
400
90
Source: CRED
91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06
epidemics,
insect infestations
More floods
More droughts
Warmer waters
Coral bleaching
More intense
cyclones
More heatwaves
Melting glaciers
Mosquitoes and disease

NotestogowithYouth&ClimateChangePowerPointpresentations:

Presentation1Whatisclimatechange?
Slide1
Introductiontothetopic
Slide2
JustlikeaGreenhousethatcreatestherighttemperaturetogrowvegetablesin,
gasesinouratmospheretrapthesunsheatkeepingthetemperatureonEarth
justrightforustolive.WithoutthesegasesthetemperatureoftheEarthwould
beaverychilly19
o
C.Thesegasesarethereforeknownasgreenhousegases.
Thesenaturalgaseslikecarbondioxideinouratmosphereprotectusfromtoo
muchheatescapingintospaceandactlikeaninvisibleblanket.Itkeepsthe
temperatureatarangethatwecanlivein.
Slide3
Extragasescausedbytheburningoffuelstrapextraheatthisisknownas
globalwarmingwhichcausesourclimatetochange.Wehavebeenaddingalot
moregasestotheskiesbyburningcoalandoil.Smallchangesinthelevelsof
gasesoccureveryday.
HINT:Atthatstageinthepresentationyoucouldaskparticipantstolistsomeof
thethingsthatproducegases
Forexample:Transport(cars,trucks,trains,boats)
Electricitygeneration(coal,dieselgenerators)
Deforestation(cuttingdowntreesreleasescarbondioxidethatisstoredinthem)
Agriculture(cowsproducemethane,fertilisers)
Industry(factories)
Slide4
Wecanseeasteepriseinthemaingreenhousegasesinthepast100years
comparedtothepast1000years.Thisisbecausewestartedtoburnlotsoffossil
fuelsaroundtheworld.Carondioxidecomesfromthingslikecars,methanefrom
cows,nitrousoxidefromfertilisersusedforfarming.Theseareallgreenhouse
gases.
Slide5
2005wasthewarmestyearonrecord
11outoflast12yearshavebeenthewarmestrecorded
Globalaveragetemperaturehaswarmed0.74Cthiscentury.Thismaynotseem
likemuchbutthinkofapatientwithafever,asmalldifferencecanshowthat
somethingisverywrong!
LatestprojectionspublishedinMay09estimateweareheadingfor3.57.4C
warmingthiscenturyifwecontinuewithbusinessasusual.Currentemissions
arehigherthanthosepredicted.
Evenwithemissionsreductionsincomingyearswewillstillexperiencesome
amountofwarmingbecausegreenhousegasesthathavealreadybeenemitted
stayintheatmospherefordecades.
Slide6
WarmingoftheEarthstemperaturemeansmoremeltingofArcticiceinthe
Summer.wecanseefromthesediagramsthatthesummericeisgettingless
overtime.
Slide7
Wecanseeherefromthedarkbluelinethatthenumberofweatherrelated
disasterssuchasthosecausedbyflood,droughtandcycloneshasdoubledinthe
past20years.Disasterslikeearthquakes,tsunamisandvolcaniceruptionsthat
arentrelatedtoclimatehaveremainedstableasindicatedbythelightblueline.
Thegreenlineshowsthenumberofdiseaseepidemicsandinsectinfestations.
Thesehavealsoincreasedalittle.
Slide8
Heavierandmorerainfallmeansmorefloods.Floodingmeanspeoplelosetheir
homesandthefoodthatisgrowing.Peoplemayalsogetinjuredorevendrown.
Afterflooding,therecanbeoutbreaksofdisease.Thisisbecausedirtywatergets
mixedwiththewaterthatpeopledrinkandpeoplemaygetsickfromdiarrhoea.
Alsoafterfloodingtheremaybeproblemswithforexamplemalaria.Thisis
becausetheremaybepoolsofwaterthatthemosquitiesliketobreedin,sothere
willbemoremosquitoes.

Slide9
Peopleallaroundtheworlddependontheweatherforfoodwhenitrainsour
foodgrows.Someareasareexperiencingmoreseveredroughtswhichreduces
theamountoffoodthatcanbeproduced.Insomeareaswherewaterisinshort
supplytherecanbedisagreementsoverwhoshouldhaveaccesstothewater
thatisavailable.

Whenpeoplehavelesswater,theymaynotwashtheirhandsaftergoingtothe
toiletandbeforeeating.Thiscanleadtomoreillnesssuchasdiarrhoea.
Also,whenpeopledonothaveenoughfoodtoeattheybecomeweakandmore
easilysick

Slide10
Cyclonesformoverwarmwaterwhichgivesitenergy.Warmerwaterswillmean
strongercyclones.
Colourfulcoralgetsstressedwhenthewatergetstoohotfortoolonganditloses
itscolour,sometimespermanently.Thisaffectsfishpeopleliveonandtourism.
Slide11
Climatechangewillbringmoreheatwaves.Oldpeopleandpeoplewhoare
alreadysickmaysufferalot,andevendie.
Slide12
Glaciersarefrozenice,oftenintheworldsmountains.Manyoftheworlds
glaciersaremeltingcausingfloodingofdamsdownstream.Whentheglaciers
meltcompletelythereisnowaterforthepeopledownstream.
Slide13
Dengueisadiseasethatispassedbymosquitoes.Denguegivesahighfeverand
peoplemaydie.Moremosquitoesmeanmoredengue!Mosquitoeslieeggsin
smallpoolsofwater,liketheseinthepicture.