The impact of climate change is already causing serious damage around the world. We want to do our bit and help by making changes that help to reduce the effects on our planet.
What is climate change?
Greenhouse gas emissions which are trapped in the atmosphere cause an increase in global average temperatures, commonly referred to as global warming. However, increases in global temperature impact on global weather patterns. This means local weather or our climate will change; this is commonly referred to as climate change.
What is the impact of climate change?
Over time the increased amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere has had a number of effects on our climate. Effects of climate change include:
- rising global temperatures and heat waves
- melting of the polar ice caps (the ice at the north and south poles of the planet)
- rising ocean levels (caused by the melting ice)
- more frequent and more powerful storms
- animals and plants threatened with extinction as their habitat is lost
- droughts and wildfires
- ocean acidification, as the ocean absorbs greater amounts of carbon dioxide
All of these effects are already visible. We estimate that human have increased the global average temperature by around one to 1.5 degrees C.
To try and prevent these global impacts local councils, business and national government are coming together to try and reduce the amount of carbon they emit. This is to keep the global increase in temperature to within 1.5 degrees C of current levels.
What are we doing to help?
We're working on lots of projects to reduce our carbon emissions; you can take a look at what we've done so far.
If you'd like to keep up to date with the work we're doing you can join our sustainability and climate change mailing list to receive our quarterly e-newsletter.
How can you help?
We can all make changes that will help our environment. Here are some ideas of how you can help to reduce your carbon emissions.
