Net Cymru

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Items on this page in natural order:

What is Climate Change?
What are the Effects?
Is the Recent Severe Weather in Britain likely to happen again?
Are we sure that Climate Change is happening?
What can we Do?

Climate Change

What is Climate Change?

Climate change describes changes in the weather due to industrial activity.

It is sometimes called the "greenhouse effect". That is because some gases act rather like the glass in a greenhouse. A greenhouse becomes warm, even during cold weather, because the sun's energy enters the greenhouse, but the glass prevents much of it from escaping.

Similarly greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reduce the amount of the sun's energy which gets radiated back into space. As a result the average temperature of the Earth is increasing.

What are the Effects?

Warmer Weather. More of the Sun's energy is retained. Temperatures increase.
More Storms. More energy in the atmosphere means greater wind speeds.
Rising Sea Levels. Rising temperatures cause melting of the ice caps resulting in more water in the oceans.
More Rain. Heat causes increased evaporation of seawater resulting in more rain.
Severe Flooding. Rainstorms become more intense, resulting in increased flooding. In coastal areas the situation is made worse by the rising sea level.

Is the Recent Severe Weather in Britain likely to happen again?

In the Autumn of 2000 parts of Britain were hit by unusually severe weather.

The main effect was heavy rain and flooding. Places in Yorkshire experienced the worst flooding for hundreds of years. Small areas of the South Coast were stuck by distructive tornadoes.

in Wales the worst effect was flooding along the River Dee and the closure of the Horseshoe Pass in North Wales as a result of landslips.

Britain is not alone in suffering severe weather.

Parts of France, Italy and Spain have experienced severe flooding at the same time.

Earlier in the year strong winds swept across France and Germany causing significant damage.

Increase in the frequency of high winds and flooding is part of a world-wide pattern.

Are we sure that Climate Change is happening?

There is no doubt amongst scientists that climate change is occuring.

The effects were predicted decades ago and the patterns of severe weather we are experiencing now are very consistent with predictions.

The only uncertainties lie in the severity and course of climate change.

The most pessimistic predictions suggest that the process is irreversible and will accelerate - the so-called "runaway greenhouse effect". Water vapour is a greenhouse gas - hence contributing to increased temperature and still more water evaporation from the oceans.

We know that the Earth's climate is not stable. In the past (at various times) the Earth was much warmer and much colder than it is now.

The last great climate change was the end of the Ice Age - about ten thousand years ago.

That was a process which took thousnds of years. The changes which are happening now are much faster.

What can we Do?

Unless there is a reduction in the production of greenhouse gases the pattern of severe weather will increase in intensity.

There are a number of things which can be done. Some of these can be done by individuals but the most important require decisions by Governments.

Democratic Governments do (to a limited extent) respond to pressure. Individuals can contact their elected representatives or for pressure groups campaigning for change.

Although Governments like to talk in terms of educating their citizens, in reality there is a great need for citizens to educate their Governments.

Reduce Waste

The production of any product involves the generation of energy. If the product's lifetime can be extended by repairing it, upgrading it or passing it on to someone else who can use it, then energy can be saved.

Things which are thrown away are either incinerated, producing carbon dioxide which is a green house gase, or are placed in landfill sites.

Food waste left in landfill sites generates methane, which is a greenhouse gas.

Reduce wasteful packaging.
Repair (or upgrade) things rather than replace them.
Recycle waste.
Give old clothing and other items to charity shops or jumble sales rather than throw them away.
Compost food waste rather than put it in the rubbish bin.

Use less Transport

Most vehicles operate by burning petrol or diesel. This releases carbon dioxide (the main greenhouse gas) into the atmosphere.

Even using electrical vehicles will probably result in the production of greenhouse gases as a by-product of electricity production (see below).

Buy products produced locally where possible.
Travel less: Use telephone, email, video conferencing in preference to face-to-face meetings where large distances are involved.
Promote transport systems which make effective use of seating capacity.
Share use of cars - share lifts.

Generate Energy without using Fossil Fuels

The main source of greenhouse gases is from the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) in order to generate energy.

Conventional power stations generate electricity this way. Only about half of the energy is converted to electricity.

There are alternatives..

Wind energy. The amount of energy available is enormous and actually increasing as a result of the greenhouse effect. It remains to be seen how much of this energy can be harnessed. The visual intrusion of windmills on hilltops has caused considerable opposition to wind energy in Wales.
Nuclear energy. Avoids burning fossil fuels - but at the price of creating other problems such as the long-term storage of radioactive waste.
Hydroelectric energy. Harnesses the energy of water as it flows downhill. It relies on having suitable rivers and streams. Large hydroelectric projects involve the creation of large artificial lakes with environmental consequences and sometimes the need to submerge populated areas.
Tidal power. Harnessing the tidal flow of water in large river estuaries. It involves building large barages, with the destruction of habitats for some species.
Wave power. Proposed as viable in the 1970s but never developed on a significant scale.
Tidal currents. Recently proposed solution involves the use of underwater propellers to harness the power of tidal currents.

Reduce Thermal Waste

Where thermal energy is generated as a result of other processes, it can be used for local district heating schemes.

Hot water is circulated in large pipes and used to heat houses and other buildings.

Combined Heat and Power. Using the waste energy from thermal electricity generation (see above) for district heating.
Heat from burning waste. Combining district heating with waste incineration.

Both of these types of schemes have been operated in the Netherlands.

This Website contains information from a variety of sources. References on this site to individuals and organisations does not imply a support on their part for Net-Cymru - see Site Objectives and Policies

Eddy Hunt webmaster@netcymru.co.uk

This page was last updated on 17 December 2000 _________ Back to: net-cymru Home Page