Global Warming-why is it important to make a difference?
Global Warming is a reality and it is everyone’s duty to help make a difference. Climate change will cause destruction of habitats, decrease in agriculture yields and falling water supplies. In addition to this human health problems will occur including: sunburn, snow blindness, eye problems, ageing, skin cancer and reduced immunity.
In 2001 the IPCC (Intergovernmental panel on climate change) said most of global warming over the last 50 years was likely to be attributable to human activities.
Predictions by 2050
- Wintertime precipitation in the northern mid-high latitudes & Antarctica will rise
- Australasia, Central America and southern Africa is likely to see decrease in winter precipitation
- In the tropics, some land area will see more rainfall and others will see less
- increases of 1.4C to 5.8C by the end of the century
- Maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to rise
- More hot days over land areas and fewer cold days and frost
Extreme Weather - Worldwide 2080
- Less frosty days and cold spells, more heat waves and hot spells
- Greater risk of drought in summer in continental areas
- Hurricanes more intense in parts of the world
- It is not clear what will happen with thunderstorms or tornadoes
- An intensification of the Asian monsoon is expected
- Storm surges are expected to increase in frequency in the UK The SE coast will have largest surges
Climate change predictions for the UK
- Annual average temperatures rise 2C – 3.5C by 2080’s
- South and East will see largest rise in temperature, in contrast to the North and West
- Precipitation in winter will increase everywhere
- Summer will be up to 35% drier. 50% by 2080
- Less snowfall throughout the UK- a decline of 90% in parts of Scotland and 90% elsewhere
How YOU can help make a difference
- Use recyclable bags- Approximately 8 billion plastic bags are used in the UK every year. 1 plastic bag can take between 100-500 years to decay.
- Use public transport- A double decker bus takes the equivalent of 40 cars. There are over 500 million cars worldwide
- Turn your thermostat down by 1C- Doing this can save 10% a year
- Don’t leave electrical equipment on standby- Electrical equipment uses a lot of electricity on standby. A video player on standby uses almost as much electricity as one playing a tape.
- Use energy saving light bulbs- They may not seem cheap at first to buy, but one can save £65 in its lifetime
- Switch off unnecessary lights
- Use a mug not a plastic cup- Every year 3 billion polystyrene cups are distributed from vending machines. Another 3 billion originate from different sources
- Recycle old computers
- Turn of the tap whilst brushing your teeth- Leaving a tap on whilst brushing your can waste up to 9 litres of water a minute or 20,000 litres of water per family each year.
- Don’t overfill your kettle- If everybody in UK did this, we could save enough electricity to run all the street lighting in the whole country!
- Limit waste by using both sides of pieces of paper- Over 350 million trees are cut down every year for the paper that’s used in UK offices alone.
- Wash clothes at 30 degrees and in full loads- Your washing machine uses energy and water more efficiently when it's full, and washing at lower temperatures saves energy too.
- Buy sustainable wood- Try to choose furniture and DIY materials made from sustainably-produced wood - look for labels from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC) or other schemes that certify sustainable timber
For more in depth information about the environment and hw you can help please visit the below links
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Environmentandgreenerliving/index.htm
www.recyclenow.com
