What are the causes of climate change?

• CO2 emissions from Traffic
• Deforestation
• Burning Trees and Litter
• Large Power Plants that use Fossil Fuels
• Intensive Livestock rearing

What can we expect from Climate Change?


Flooding
When water gets warm it expands, warmer temperatures make icecaps melt. Already the ice sheets of Antarctica are breaking up and melting. This in turn enters the seas and raises water levels.

Stormy Weather
Tropical storms form over warm water. As oceans get warmer , the storms can gather more energy and become more destructive in populated and protected areas.

Disease and Bugs Spreading
Mosquitoes and other insects will move too areas that were previously cooler, as they are now warm enough for these insects to thrive.

Less land for crops
Areas or arable and fertile land becoming barren as hot and dry climates spread.

What can we do to reduce the impacts of climate change?

• Reduce emissions
• Switch to renewable energy
• Start saving energy in the home and in work
• Plant trees
• Reduce Reuse Recyle
• Use public transport
• Assist developing countries to acquire environmentally friendly technology
• Support the Kyoto Protocol by limiting the emission of greenhouse gases by developed countries.

Horns Rev – Denmark's Largest Wind Farm

Each year, environmental pollution and CO2 emissions from the use of fossil fuels constitute a threat to health, the environment and sustainable development.

Wind turbines cause virtually no emissions during their operation and very little during their manufacture, installation, maintenance and removal.

Every Megawatt of wind power installed in Ireland avoids:

• The release of 2,700 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide (CO2), the main gas responsible for global warming
• 49 tonnes of Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), the main cause of acid rain
• 5.5 tonnes of Nitrous Oxides (NOx) responsible for building corrosion and global warming
• The need to import 6,450 barrels of Oil
• The landfilling of 175 tonnes of slag and ash

Argentina's Upsala Glacier was once the biggest in South America, but it is now disappearing at a rate of 200 metres per year.

The two images below demonstrate the rising sea level and increased storm activity in North Carolina.