Global warming: It's a real icebreaker!
Honest, it is! And here is why...
Climate change and global warming are phrases which are on the lips of everybody at the moment. But what's the big deal? Wouldn't we all love if if Britain was like the Mediterranean all year round? Lying by the beach, topping up our tans and sipping the juice from a pineapple...bliss. Yet the consequences of climate change can be disastrous, both locally and globally.
"Yet, I've heard that global warming does not even exist"
-This idea is the belief of some experts
"So...what's the point?"
-As humans we still need to be careful of what we do. We need to look after our planet!
Let's look at the evidence for climate change...
Climate change and global warming are phrases which are on the lips of everybody at the moment. But what's the big deal? Wouldn't we all love if if Britain was like the Mediterranean all year round? Lying by the beach, topping up our tans and sipping the juice from a pineapple...bliss. Yet the consequences of climate change can be disastrous, both locally and globally.
"Yet, I've heard that global warming does not even exist"
-This idea is the belief of some experts
"So...what's the point?"
-As humans we still need to be careful of what we do. We need to look after our planet!
Let's look at the evidence for climate change...
Lets pretend these pictures are all in England. What do these pictures tell us about how climate is changing???
Why is climate changing in the UK?
Why is climate changing in the UK?
Causes of climate change - NATURAL
1) Here is my friends son, Barry. Beautiful isn't he? However....you may have noticed something unusual about him. Possibly? Yes? He has some spots. Sun spots in fact. (Not son spots).
Now sun spots don't really look like this. They don't actually create spots on babies like Barry.
They are actually the darker, cooler areas on the sun's surface. So if you see a dark patch on a picture of the sun, this is a sun spot. Scientists believe that these areas make the sun glow brighter, in fact, 0.1% brighter than it was 100 years ago! This increase means more heat is travelling to earth. Get your shades on!
Sunspots appear on the region of the earth called the photosphere and are around 3,800 degrees C. The occur over areas of extreme magnetic activity. This energy is stored up then released, causing solar flares and storms to erupt out of the sun spot. This is how the heat increases which thens travels to earth. Imagine you have a bottle of coke and shake it up. Then, your brother or sister comes along and opens it up and it goes everywhere. The coke represents the energy sotred in the sun spot and the coke all over your sibling and kitchen floor is the eruption of the storm or solar flare.
So, there you go. Barry my friends son and his spots and the real sunspots which cause the earth to heat up.
Now sun spots don't really look like this. They don't actually create spots on babies like Barry.
They are actually the darker, cooler areas on the sun's surface. So if you see a dark patch on a picture of the sun, this is a sun spot. Scientists believe that these areas make the sun glow brighter, in fact, 0.1% brighter than it was 100 years ago! This increase means more heat is travelling to earth. Get your shades on!
Sunspots appear on the region of the earth called the photosphere and are around 3,800 degrees C. The occur over areas of extreme magnetic activity. This energy is stored up then released, causing solar flares and storms to erupt out of the sun spot. This is how the heat increases which thens travels to earth. Imagine you have a bottle of coke and shake it up. Then, your brother or sister comes along and opens it up and it goes everywhere. The coke represents the energy sotred in the sun spot and the coke all over your sibling and kitchen floor is the eruption of the storm or solar flare.
So, there you go. Barry my friends son and his spots and the real sunspots which cause the earth to heat up.
2)Cows have four stomachs. They often let one rip, break wind, pass gas, cut one, cut the cheese, pump, let her rip, or erupt just like volcanoes. Volcanoes are another natural way that can effect how the climate changes. The gas and ash from a volcano (when it lets rip) rises so high into the sky it actually stops sunlight from reaching the earth. It almost creates a blanket in the sky and the sun light is reflected back up towards the sun. This blanket of gas stops the sun light reaching the earth.
This causes the planet to be cooled and lowers temperatures across the globe. Brrrrr it's chilly!
One recent example of this was Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991. Global sunlight was reduced by 10% and global temperatures cooled by 0.5% on average. It's crazy to think that a volcano passing gas can cause the temperature of the earth to drop.
This causes the planet to be cooled and lowers temperatures across the globe. Brrrrr it's chilly!
One recent example of this was Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991. Global sunlight was reduced by 10% and global temperatures cooled by 0.5% on average. It's crazy to think that a volcano passing gas can cause the temperature of the earth to drop.
3)Orbit is my favourite chewing gum, but the shop ran out today so I had to get some dubble bubble. Yet, there is this theory that orbit was something to do with climate change. Well blow me a bubble.
So the earths orbit changes: not daily but over long period of times. There are three ways orbits change.
1-The earth's orbit can either be circular or oval: If it is a circle, the sun is always the same distance from the sun. If it is an oval, the sun cna sometime be really close to the sun or really far away. This has a greater difference in temperature throughout a year.
2-The tilt of the earths axis: Sometimes, the earth tilts so different areas of the world recieve more or less sun shine. This has most affect at the polar regions.
3-The earth axis wobbles: The earth is spinning around on its axis all over the place.
All three of the orbit changes have the same effect: they alter the amount of sunlight that reaches the earth and change where the rays fall on the earth. Don't worry though...these changes happen over 1,000's of years which is why we had thing such as ice ages and Medieval warm periods. These massive changes in temperatures are called Milankovitch Cycles.
So the earths orbit changes: not daily but over long period of times. There are three ways orbits change.
1-The earth's orbit can either be circular or oval: If it is a circle, the sun is always the same distance from the sun. If it is an oval, the sun cna sometime be really close to the sun or really far away. This has a greater difference in temperature throughout a year.
2-The tilt of the earths axis: Sometimes, the earth tilts so different areas of the world recieve more or less sun shine. This has most affect at the polar regions.
3-The earth axis wobbles: The earth is spinning around on its axis all over the place.
All three of the orbit changes have the same effect: they alter the amount of sunlight that reaches the earth and change where the rays fall on the earth. Don't worry though...these changes happen over 1,000's of years which is why we had thing such as ice ages and Medieval warm periods. These massive changes in temperatures are called Milankovitch Cycles.