Climate Change

Climate change is one of the few scientific theories that makes us examine the whole basis of modern society. It is a challenge that has politicians arguing, sets nations against each other, queries individual lifestyle choices, and ultimately asks questions about humanity’s relationship with the rest of the planet. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report states that the evidence for climate change is unequivocal; with evidence over the last 100 years of a 0.8°Celsius (C) rise in global temperatures and a 22 centimetres (cm) rise in sea level. Depending on how much we control future greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions the global mean surface temperature could rise between 2.8°C and 5.4°C by the end of the 21st century. In addition global sea level could rise by between 52 cm and 98 cm and there will be significant changes in weather patterns with more extreme climate events. This is not the end of the world as envisaged by many environmentalists in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but it does mean a huge increase in misery for billions of people.