Climate change
Our climate is changing – both in Britain and round the world. Because of man-made pollution that traps the sun’s heat, the planet may never have warmed as fast as it has in the past 25 years. The years 2005 and 1998 were probably the warmest years of the last millennium. The 1990s was the warmest decade and the 20th century the warmest century.
This is going at affect us all, and the evidence of the first signs of climate change is all around us. In Europe, the glaciers of the Alps are disappearing and droughts in the Mediterranean are worsening. Southern Spain is turning to desert. In the tropics, high sea temperatures whip up unprecedented storms and hurricanes that bring floods and lethal landslides. In Siberia, roads buckle as permafrost melts. And, as ice melts and oceans warm, sea levels worldwide are rising.
Read on to find out about climate change, its causes and effects, and the work we are doing to mitigate and adapt to it.
- National and international response
The Kyoto process and the UK response to climate change. - What can you do?
We can all take steps to reduce our 'climate footprint' – our personal contribution to global warming. - Helping local authorities address climate risks
