What can we do about global

warming?

S.Hayes27.01.15

Global warmingMany people make Climate Change and Global Warming a scary and difficult thing to understand, but it’s not.

Scientists have warned that the world's climate has changed a lot, and has affected many living and non-living things.

Many places that were warmer are now getting colder, and many colder regions are getting much colder or even warmer.

Confused? I am. Lets look further …

Important Climate Change Terms

Climate:This describes all the weather occurring over a period of years in one given place.

Weather: Weather is all around us. It describes whatever is happening outdoors in a given place at a given time.

Greenhouse:In a way, the earth is like a greenhouse. The earth has some very important gasses in the atmosphere that keeps us warm. Some of these gasses are water vapour, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane.When the sun heats the earth, these gases keep the heat on the earth’s surface. Without these gases, heat would escape back into space and earth’s average temperature would be about 15.5° colder.

How does the Greenhouse Effect happen?The earth’s atmosphere is all around us. It is the air that we breathe.

Sunlight enters the Earth’s atmosphere, passing through the blanket of greenhouse gases.

Nope. Still not sure.

As it reaches the earth’s surface, the land and water absorbs the sunlight’s energy.

Once absorbed, the energy is sent back into the atmosphere in the form of infra-red rays.

Some of the energy passes back into space, but much of it remains trapped in the atmosphere by the greenhouse gases, causing our earth to warm up.

Think I’ve got it!

Have you?

Do you now know why we want to save electricity?

We were worried about the amount of electricity wasted in our school. So we decided to carry out a survey to find out who the biggest culprits were.

It is very IMPORTANT that you turn off all electrical appliances when they are not in use. This is good practice, and you end up saving some money too.Everything humans have at home or workplace need power to work. This power comes from burning fossil fuels and other natural sources. The more fuels are burnt, the more are produced into the atmosphere. This means each time your dad drives his car, or you turn on an electric appliance, you are indirectly adding to the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

We were surprised and disappointed by what we found. So we decided to do some spot checks at different times during the day when we knew the

classrooms would be empty.

Oh dear, look what we found.

Day 1

KS1B KS1W KS1B/H KS1H KS2K KS2H KS2S KS2R KS2O KS2G

Maybe some people are starting to listen

to us now.

Day 2

KS1B KS1W KS1B/H KS1H KS2K KS2H KS2S KS2R KS2O KS2G

Yes! We think it’s working! We have got better things to

report back in assembly today.

Day 3

KS1B KS1W KS1B/H KS1H KS2K KS2H KS2S KS2R KS2O KS2G

Keep up the good work!

Day 4

KS1B KS1W KS1B/H KS1H KS2K KS2H KS2S KS2R KS2O KS2G

Day 5 We’ve done it! Our mission has been a success! Well done to all of you!

KS1B KS1W KS1B/H KS1H KS2K KS2H KS2S KS2R KS2O KS2G

Now, I wonder if we can keep it up? I think spot checks from now on to see if we can catch

people out.

Global warmingWhat else can be done?

Be active. Doing NOTHING about a problem can make it worse. But above all, live by example!

LearnFinding information and learning about issues, like you are doing, is the first step to solve problems. When you understand a problem, you are in a better position to find a solution for it.ShareSharing the correct information and facts with family and friends is the second thing, because when more people change attitudes, the impact is greater.Take partYou can also put pressure on your local government and leaders to be responsible.

So… this is it. Ask your friends to come and learn with us and let’s share ideas on how we can help STOP GLOBAL WARMING.

Wind power

Solar power

Solar energy would be nice, but maybe that is a job for another

day!Remember…stay green!