Climate Education 

What Is Climate Change?

Background information and keywords:

Climate is the average weather of a place (for example, the temperature, average precipitation, etc.) Climate change is how the Earth's climate shifts and changes over time. Climate change is always happening for many different reasons, but right now the climate is changing for the worst because of humans. Climate change is a problem because pollution and an increasingly hot atmosphere are harming animals, plants, sea life, and our beautiful Earth! There are many ways that humans contribute to climate change, and there are many ways that humans can stop it. To learn more, read the specific information below and explore the website and our links. Together, we can save the Earth!

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Causes and Effects of Climate Change:

One cause of climate change is greenhouse gases, these are caused by human emissions and trap chemicals and thermal energy in the atmosphere. This increases the temperature of the Earth, causing glaciers to melt and animals who rely on them to disappear. Additionally, the ocean absorbs a large portion of the heat from the atmosphere, so when the ocean temperature increases, it becomes unlivable to sea life. Many parts of our everyday life cause greenhouse gas emissions, this includes driving cars, heating and cooling our houses, using energy to make things, and much more. Emissions also cause acid rain from the water cycle reacting to air pollutants. Acid rain is any precipitation that is acidic, often too for most forms of life to survive off of. Another problem is pollution. Pollution is when a substance or form of energy builds up in an environment faster than it can disappear. Pollution is very harmful and comes in many forms including water pollution, plastic pollution, land pollution, etc. Luckily, these issues can be solved by cutting down on our emissions and using less trash. For more information about these issues and how to help, check out our activity tab and visit NASA's website climate change for kids or another fabulous website addressing the climate!