4 Chapter 1 WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE Let's face it Earth's climate is changing Temperatures are rising polar ice is melting and weather related storms are getting stronger Changes like these are happening worldwide and affecting all living creatures on Earth Hurricane Harvey hit Texas in August 2017 It had the most rainfall for any tropical storm ever recorded
5 Meteorologists use computers to track patterns in temperatures rainfall and wind to predict weather Climate vs Weather Climate is different from weather Weather is what happens in a place's atmosphere Rain snow and wind are all examples of weather Weather changes every day Climate is a place's average weather conditions over time For example Florida's climate is warm and sunny because the weather there is usually warm and sunny But what if Florida's average temperature dropped so much that it started snowing regularly That would be an example of climate change Climate change is a change in Earth's weather patterns over a long time
6 It's Getting Hot in Here Temperatures are rising around the world But why It has to do with greenhouse gases These are certain kinds of gases that trap some of the sun's heat in Earth's atmosphere Without greenhouse gases all the sun's heat would escape back into space at night Then Earth would be too cold for plants and animals to live But too much greenhouse gas in the atmosphere causes Earth to get too hot Carbon dioxide is the most common greenhouse gas Exhaust from cars and power plants puts carbon dioxide in our atmosphere
7 Methane is another greenhouse gas It leaks into the air during extraction of natural gas from the ground More greenhouse gases are in the atmosphere than ever before But how are they getting there Humans are to blame People use fossil fuels such as coal oil and natural gas for energy to heat their homes and drive their cars When fossil fuels burn they release greenhouse gases This increases Earth's temperatures and leads to climate change
