How is the climate changing?

The global average temperature has risen by

about 0.89°C over the period 1901 to 2012.

Future effects
 Temperatures will
Climate Change continue to rise
Climate change is a change in the statistical
distribution of weather patterns when that  Changes in
change lasts for an extended period of time precipitation patterns
(i.e., decades to millions of years). Climate
change may refer to a change in average
weather conditions, or in the time variation of
 More droughts and
weather within the context of longer-term heat waves
average conditions. Climate change is
caused by factors such as biotic processes,  Hurricanes will
variations in solar radiation received by
Earth, plate tectonics, and volcanic eruptions.
become stronger and
more intense and etc.
We've seen already that both natural and
human factors affect the Earth's climate. The
IPCC is the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change. In its 2007 report, the IPCC
stated that: 'There is very high
confidence that the net effect of human
activities since 1750 has been one of
“Climate
warming' (IPCC 4th Assessment Report,
2007). Change”
In fact the IPCC concluded that most of the
observed increase in global temperature
since the middle of the 20th Century is very
likely due to an increase in man-made
greenhouse gas emissions.

We may well be seeing the effects already, “CLIMATE CHANGE”

though it is hard to say for certain that any
single 'event' (a drought, a flood or the
spread of an invasive species, for example) is
the result of climate change.

What is Climate?
Is the statistics of weather over long
periods of time. It is measured by
assessing the patterns of variation
in temperature, humidity, atmospheric
pressure, wind, precipitation, atmospheric
particle count and
other meteorological variables in a given
region over long periods of time. Climate
differs from weather, in that weather only
describes the short-term conditions of
these variables in a given region.
A region's climate is generated by
the climate system, which has five
components: atmosphere, hydrosphere, cr
yosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere.
Climates can be classified according to the
average and the typical ranges of different
variables, most commonly temperature and
precipitation. The most commonly used
classification scheme was the Köppen
climate classification
What are the factors
that affect climate?
There are many different factors that affect
climate around the world. It is the
varying influence of these factors that lead to
different parts of the Earth experiencing differing
climates. The most important natural factors
are:
 distance from the sea
 ocean currents
 direction of prevailing winds
 shape of the land (known as 'relief' or
'topography')
 distance from the equator
 the El Niño phenomenon
Human influence
The factors above affect the climate
naturally. However, we cannot forget the
influence of humans on our climate. Early on in
human history our effect on the climate would
have been quite small. However, as
populations increased and trees were cut down
in large numbers, so our influence on the
climate increased. Trees take in carbon dioxide
and produce oxygen. A reduction in trees will
therefore have increased the amount of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere.
Greenhouse Gases
Many of the gases that occur in the Earth's
atmosphere are greenhouse gases. They
include carbon dioxide, methane and water
vapour. Greenhouse gases occur both naturally
and due to human activities.
A greenhouse gas is one which traps heat
radiated from the surface of the earth. The term
comes from the fact that these gases act like a
greenhouse to limit the loss of heat from a
system*. The diagram below shows the
greenhouse effect, the way in which these
gases help warm the Earth.
Without a layer of greenhouse gases the earth
would experience huge extremes of
temperature and would be a hostile place to
live.