Global Warming What happens when you go into a greenhouse on a sunny day? It's hot, isn't it? That's because the glass in the greenhouse traps the heat from the sun. This gas carbon dioxide does the same in the earth's atmosphere.carbon dioxide It acts like glass in a greenhouse The glass in the greenhouse keeps the plants inside warm, and the carbon dioxide keeps the planet warm. Without it, we'd freeze. However! Too much of it means that we boil!

Because people are burning fuels with carbon in (that's oil, gas and coal which we use in cars, aeroplanes, power stations and so on), all this carbon gets dumped into the air, mixed with the oxygen we all breathe, and so adds to our greenhouse gas problem. This means that the planet warms some more.

The ice of the poles will melt. Some of it already is melting fast. The Arctic sea ice gets less every year andgets less every year the great frozen continent of AntarcticaAntarctica is losing ice too. Other seas, like the North Sea, are warming too. This means that fish which need colder waters have to swim north and this can have bad effects of both fishing and seabirds.seabirds All the ice that melts will start to fill up the oceans and make them overflow on land. More sea and less land is fine for penguins and for fish, but it's no good at all for people and other animals that live on the land. Some of the best land for growing food is also the most low-lying. That means it will be flooded first. It also happens that some of your biggest cities, like London will get flooded too.

 Then there's disease.  As the world warms, nasty diseases like malaria are starting to spread because insects like mosquitoes who carry the disease like the warm weather!  Also, the more we fly places, the more mosquitoes hitch a ride on the planes and pass diseases on to other countries!

Storms ahead Also, people who study earth's climate have found that as it warms up, the weather is going to get more violent and unpredictable. Hurricanes, for example, will become more powerful - - a big worry for people living in the south of the United States and in the tropical Pacific or Indian ocean areas like Bangladesh. Deserts are increasing and places like the Great Plains of America will get drier.Deserts Rain will be heavier in other parts of the world so there will be more floods.more floods These things have already started to happen.

STOP! Take this opportunity to stop, reflect and add to your notes on Global Warming. Is there any new information you have come across?

The scientific research shows that Global Warming is DEFINITELY HAPPENING! However, some people argue that it is not. Can you think why?

Many of the people who claim climate change is not happening are those who use lots of fuel, who make things like cars that use lots of fuel, or actually get the fuel out of the earth: that's heavy industry, carmakers and the oil, gas and coal companies. These are people who depend on other people using lots of fuel if they are to continue making money. It's not surprising that they don't think there is any climate change. But it doesn't make them right!

The world is hotting up. But it's not everyone that's causing Global Warming. Mostly it's people in rich countries – Europe, North America and Australia. They are the ones with energy-hungry lifestyles which guzzle fossil fuels. Poor people like those in most African countries, Asia and Latin America can't afford to travel all over the place in cars and planes, they don't have heating or air conditioning in their homes or eat fancy food. Many don't even have anything more to live in than a one-room shack with no toilet, no kitchen, no running water. These people are not the ones causing global warming. Yet they will suffer! As for animals, they are innocent too.

STOP! Talk to the person next to you What do you think you could do to prevent Global Warming from getting any worse?

1.TALK TALK TALK! Talk with your friends, your teachers and your parents. Get your parents and teachers involved! You can also write to your country's politicianscountry's politicians telling them that you're worried about climate change and why. If enough people make a fuss, they have to do something.

2. Become an expert! The more you know, the more likely it is you will make sensible decisions which help the planet! Why not find out your CARBON FOOTPRINT? What's a Carbon Footprint? You can easily work out what your carbon footprint is with Carbon Control's Carbonator.Carbon Control's Carbonator 3. Why drive when you can walk ?! If your family has a car, get them to use it less. Walk to the shops. Walking, running, skipping are all much more fun than sitting in a boring un-cool car. If you need to travel further than you can walk, use a bus or train if you can.

4. Save energy by not always putting the heating on. You can put a Jumper on if it’s cold and instead of using air conditioning or fans when its hot, simply wear cooler clothing!

5. SHOP LOCALLY! Why do you think this is important? Make sure you check labels!

6. Learn to cook! Home cooking is not only fun, it means you don't have to drive to a takeaway or fast food restaurant. Result? Less pollution. If you make a garden, you can grow much of your own food. Composting your waste food means it doesn't have to be trucked away to a landfill waste dump where it will cause more pollution including methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

10. Reduce, reuse, recycle: Remember your three Rs! Reduce: the most important. If you don't buy so much stuff in the first place, then you don't need to reuse or recycle it. Reuse whatever you can (like plastic supermarket bags). If you can't reuse something, Recycle it!plastic supermarket bags

11. Turn off and shut it! Turning things off may seem boring but leaving lights, heating, air conditioning, computers, TVs and stuff on when you don't need them wastes a lot of energy. Turning them off saves money too! Leaving things on standby (like TVs, computers and stuff) also uses a surprising amount of energy.

So you see climate change is not all gloom and doom. There's plenty you can do. Please please remember: how you choose to use energy affects all life on Earth. The more energy you use, the more the planet warms up. So please think before you act... and turn off that light. Everything you do like that helps a little!energy