What is causing climate change?
Our climate is changing because the average surface temperature of our planet is rising, influencing our weather patterns and all the natural processes that make our planet what it is.
This temperature increase, often called global warming, is caused by a build-up of gases in our atmosphere, which has been happening steadily for many years. These gases act like a blanket, trapping the heat of the sun and preventing it from escaping. We call this the greenhouse effect. No surprises as to why we call them greenhouse gases or GHGs. Without the blanket, the Earth would be a cool 18 degrees. However, human activities – particularly the burning of fossil fuels, which creates carbon dioxide—have massively increased the warming effect and the average temperature is increasing at an unprecedented rate.
It is this that is responsible for climate change.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the leading cause of climate change and largest greenhouse gas (not including water vapour). This is because we send a vast amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But there are other gases which also cause climate change:
- Methane (CH4)
- Nitrous Oxide (N2O)
- Fluorinated Gases (F-Gases)
Gases released into the atmosphere
We release these gases into the atmosphere in different quantities. CO2 accounted for 80% of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK in 2019, with the rest including methane (12%), nitrous oxide (5%) and fluorinated gases (3%)*.
They each have a different impact on climate change. This is because they each have a different ability to trap heat and stay in the atmosphere for different lengths of time.
For example, methane absorbs 84 times more heat energy than carbon dioxide. It lasts about 10 years in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for up to 1,000 years.
SOURCE
* Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS): UK local authority and regional carbon dioxide emissions national statistics: 2005 to 2019. See the stats here.
Greenhouse gases are everywhere! Many of the things we do daily release greenhouse gases.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is released from:
- Burning oil, coal and gas (fossil fuels) to power our vehicles and heat our homes and workplaces
- Manufacturing cement used to build our homes, bridges and infrastructure
- Removing trees and plants and disturbing soil for new development or land management
- Removing earth such as peatlands for garden compost
Methane (CH4) is released through the:
- Decay of organic waste, such as food waste or green waste in industrial sized landfills, rather than home composting
- Livestock and meat industry, to feed an ever increasing population (cows and sheep burp methane)
- Production and transport of coal, gas and oil (fossil fuels) which we use to create energy
Nitrous oxide (NO2) is released from:
- Agricultural activities and synthetic fertilisers used to rear livestock and grow our food
- Burning fossil fuels to create power and transport people and goods
F-gases (fluorinated gases) are released from:
- Fridges (in coolants that leak over time) to keep our food, drinks and medicines cold
- Air conditioning units to cool our buildings
- Aerosols to give them ‘spray’ functionality
As you can see, mining, extracting, transporting and burning fossil fuels throughout this process is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.
Next Challenge
What does this mean for Plymouth?
Cities consume the lion’s share of the world’s energy and produce more than 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UN’s World Economic Forum. As a city then, Plymouth has its part to play...
Find out