4 Chapter 1 CLIMATE CHANGE AND OUR WATERY PLANET The sea level is rising The top of the ocean is 4 to 8 inches 10 to 20 cm higher than it was a century ago By 2100 the sea level is likely to be at least 3 feet 91 cm higher than it is today Tuvalu an island in the South Pacific will likely be the first country to disappear underwater from rising sea levels
5 SNOW IS AN EXAMPLE OF WEATHER IF AN AREA HAS LESS AND LESS SNOWFALL EACH YEAR THAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF CLIMATE CHANGE The sea level is rising because of climate change Climate is related to weather Weather is what is happening in the air outside at any moment Climate is the typical weather for an area It is the weather you should expect based on what weather was like in the past If the weather keeps being different from what it used to be that is climate change
While many people enjoy warmer weather milder days aren't the only change that higher air temperatures can bring 6 Heating Up Our climate has been changing for more than a century All around the world the air has been getting warmer Scientists have been calculating Earth's average temperatures for more than 135 years They have found the average annual temperature keeps rising The twenty hottest years on record have all happened since 1995 The five hottest years have all happened since 2010
7 The Greenhouse Gas Effect This climate change is happening because of people People have been burning a lot of coal and gas for more than 250 years Coal and gas are fossil fuels They release greenhouse gases every time they are burned Greenhouse gases are good at trapping heat They act like a sweater around Earth They hold onto the sun's heat and make the air warmer Driving is one way people burn gas Most car engines burn gas to make the cars run
