The Low Carbon Partnership
Solar Power
How fast is it changing now?
It is the speed of the climate change we are experiencing today that makes
it different to these past changes. One of the most important changes that
is happening now is the rise in the temperature of the Earth, which is
evidence of global warming. Over the past 100 years the Earth’s temperature
has increased by about 0.8°C. More than half of this increase has happened
since 1970; that is within the life time of most of your parents or teachers.
In fact, eleven out of the past twelve years have been in the hottest twelve
years on record. Now, 0.8°C increase might not seem very much, but even
small increases in temperature can have dramatic effects on weather patterns,
causing extreme events such as droughts, floods and hurricanes.
Variations of the Earth's surface temperature for the last 140 years
IPCC Climate change 2001 - Synthesis report. Fig. 2-3
The rate of the current climate change means that living things on Earth, the plants and animals, have had little chance to adapt to their changing environment which may be getting warmer (or cooler in some places), wetter or drier. An important effect of global warming is that the water in the world’s seas and oceans expands as its temperature rises. Also, glaciers and ice-sheets are starting to melt, adding more water to the oceans. These effects together are making sea levels rise. In the last 100 years the level of the sea has risen by 10-20 centimetres around the world, which is a major problem for the plants, animals and millions of people that live in flat areas near the coast.
