Is it My Problem?

1. The worlds surface area has increased in temperature  by 0.6 degrees to 1.0 degrees over the last 100 years, this has started to melt the ice caps, change patterns of rainfall, contributes  to heatwaves and wildfires and increase frequency  of hurricanes and storms.

 

2. Scientists predict the average global temperature  could increase by between 1.4 and 6 degrees Celsius in the 21st century.

 

3. The USA constitutes 5% of the worlds population and  contributes to 22% of global carbon emissions. 

 

4. Around 15% of carbon released into the environment is due to deforestation. 

 

5. The golden toad is the first species to become extinct due to climate change. 

 

6.The waters surrounding the UK have increased by 1 degree Celsius in the last 100 years.

 

7. The concentration of co2 in the atmosphere is projected to maintain an average of 411 parts per million (ppm) throughout 2019, before the start of the industrial revolution in 1750, ppm was around 280, this is an increase of 46%.

 

8. The Paris agreement focuses on keeping global temperature rise in the century to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, ideally to 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid “severe,  widespread and irreversible climate change effects”. If things continue as they are the world is likely to pass the 1.5 °C mark between 2030 and 2052 unless we find a way to reach net zero co2 emissions. 

 

9. Sea levels are rising at an average of 3 mm per year.  The 2 main reasons for this are the oceans are warming and warm water expands and melting glaciers and ice sheets and that increases the flow of water.

 

10. Antarctica  and Greenland hold enough frozen water to raise global sea levels by approximately 65 meters if they were to melt completely.

 

11. Already in the Pacific at least 8 islands have been swallowed up by the sea in the last 100 years.

 

12. Around 50% of co2 emitted into the atmosphere since 1750 has been in the last 40 years.

 

13. The number of floods and heavy rains have quadrupled since 1980 and doubled since 2004.  Extreme temperatures,  droughts and wildfires have more than doubled  in the last 40 years. This is all because of climate change. 

 

14. Data from over 230 studies found that 68% of all extreme weather events in the last 20 years were made more severe by human caused climate change.  Heat waves make up 43% of such events, droughts 17% and heavy rainfall and floods 16%.

 

15. C02 emissions from global energy use jumped 2% in 2018.  The fastest growth in 7 years and is the equivalent of increasing the number of cars globally by a third. This is due to more hot days which increased the use of cooling systems which are mainly powered by natural gas and coal.

 

16. The worlds forests are being cut down at the rate of 30 football pitches per minute.  This is being done to make way for cattle and agriculture such as palm oil and soya beans.  Trees store C02 as they grow and as these trees are burnt down all that Co2 is released back into the atmosphere.  Tropical deforestation is responsible  for 11% of the worlds C02 emissions. 

 

17. Between 2006 and 2016, 635 billion tonnes of ice melted into our oceans, that is the equivalent  of the contents of an Olympic sized swimming pool every minute.

 

18. IF THE HUMAN RACE CONTINUE AS WE ARE AND SCIENTISTS ARE CORRECT THAT OVER THE NEXT 100 YEARS THE EARTH’S TEMPERATURE COULD INCREASE BY UP TO 6°C THIS SIMPLY WILL NOT SUSTAIN LIFE.
THIS IS EVERYONE’S PROBLEM.