Our Climate, Our Future
What Is Climate Change?
Since 1880, scientists have kept thermometer-based records of the global surface temperature.
What is happening to the global temperature?
The planet is becoming warmer; the climate is changing.
Climate change is a change in the average temperature and cycles of weather over a long period of time.
Year
Temperature Anomaly (°C)
0
-0.5
0.5
1.0
1.5
Data source: NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS)
1880
1888
1904
1936
1960
2000
2016
1896
1912
1920
1928
1968
1944
1952
2008
1976
1984
1992
Why Is Climate Change a Problem?
Over millions of years, species become adapted to survive in the conditions in which they live. A stable climate supports this process and allows living things to thrive. If the climate changes quickly, organisms don’t have enough time to adapt to new conditions and may no longer be able to survive.
Bushfire Aftermath On Kangaroo Island by © Brad Fleet / Newspix licensed under CC BY
Species Loss
Untitled by © Ola Jennersten
/ WWF-Sweden licensed under CC BY
1.5°C
Why Is Climate Change a Problem?
Coral Bleaching
Temperature Rise (°C)
Bleached coral, Maldives by
© naturepl.com / Peter Scoones / WWF licensed under CC BY
1.5
2
Drought
Dried up fishing pans in Liuwa plain
National Park by © Jasper Doest / WWF licensed under CC BY
Temperature Rise (°C)
1.5
Rise in Sea Level
Climate change adaption Wadden sea by © Claudi Nir / WWF licensed under CC BY
Million People Affected
Temperature Rise (°C)
1.5
Temperature Rise (°C)
1.5
18
16
8
2°C
410
million
2
56 cm
2
49
million
2
Who Causes Climate Change?
The 50 least developed countries are thought to have contributed 1% of the greenhouse gases that have caused global warming. The USA, the EU and China alone have contributed around 60%.
Oceania
Africa
South America
North America
Europe
Asia
Who Does Climate Change Affect?
In the long term, everyone will feel the effects of climate change. However, some people are currently more affected than others.�
In most cases, the wealth of prosperous countries has come from activities which contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. This wealth allows these countries to protect themselves from the effects of climate change.
Poorer countries are less able to adapt to climate change and therefore suffer the most from its effects. They are also less able to develop because they need to focus on addressing the challenges caused by climate change.
The countries who have contributed the least to the climate crisis are the ones who are affected the most.
Is this fair?
Who Can Fix It?
Governments can make laws and policies that reduce the amount �of greenhouse gas emissions.
Businesses can change their processes to run more sustainably.
We can all make choices in our own lives that reduce our carbon footprint (the impact our actions and purchases have on climate change).
We can also use our voices to let businesses and governments know that we want them to act quickly to reduce their impact on climate change.