GLOBAL QUESTIONS Is Our Climate Changing Anne Rooney
Chapter 1 What is climate change Spring is coming earlier in some parts of the world the ice sheets are melting temperatures are rising Our planet is getting warmer What does all this mean and does it matter Most scientists believe that human activity is changing the climate on earth and that this change may have serious and even catastrophic effects They believe that we must all think about the way we live to try to halt climate change before the damage becomes irreversible Some other people think either that there is no significant change or that human activity is not the cause It is a complex issue yet it is one that affects all of us and that we can’t afford to ignore Is our climate changing All scientists who study the climate agree that there have been changes in the world’s climate over the last hundred years In some parts of the world people have kept temperature records for several hundred years These records show that on average the temperature rose 1 5 F 0 9 C between 1880 and 2012 This may not sound like much but it is enough to make some very real differences including Melting ice The North and South poles and the areas around them the Arctic and Antarctica have vast ice sheets that stretch for hundreds of miles Yet over the last few years these ice sheets have shrunk as rising temperatures have caused them to melt Glaciers frozen rivers in mountainous areas all over earth are also melting Melting permafrost Permafrost is a layer of permanently frozen ground that is found in very cold regions Such ground may not always be covered with snow or ice but 6 Expert View Scientists believe it is 90 percent certain that humans have affected the climate It is extremely likely that human activities have exerted a substantial net warming influence on climate since 1750 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2007
What is climate change normally it never melts completely because the average temperatures in these regions are so low In recent times permafrost has been melting in some areas for the first time in centuries Earlier seasons The arrival of spring is indicated by natural events such as birds nesting and flowers blooming In many places these events are happening earlier than usual because the temperatures that trigger them occur earlier in the year Moving plants and animals Plants and animals are being found in new areas as the climate changes Some places are becoming too hot too dry or too wet to sustain particular animals or plants Other regions have become warmer offering the ideal climate for new species Water pours from a melting iceberg in Disko Bay Greenland 7
