Yes, climate change is real... and very unfair!

	"For anyone who has wondered how global warming and reduced sea ice will affect polar bears, the answer is simple - they die." Richard Steiner, University of Alaska, Fairbanks. He has found that the bears drown as they try to swim ever further between melting sea ice in search of food. (Wall Street Journal, 14 December 2005)

Lots of people have studied the climate all around the world. They've known for many years that climate change really was happening. They knew that it would be bad for people and much other life. And as more evidence piled in, it became obvious that it was mostly due to humans. As a result, all countries in the world came together in a big conference at Kyoto in Japan. Here they began to try and agree what to do about climate change. Lots of promises were made but countries haven't been very good at carrying them out. Since then, the evidence of change has become stronger and stronger. The special computer 'models' which scientists had used have become more and more accurate. The ice sheets in both the Arctic and the Antarctic are melting, in some cases very fast. Sea levels are rising. Temperatures are rising, especially in the Arctic and Antarctic. Glaciers on other mountains of the world are melting very fast -- especially in the Himalayas. Animals and plants which like warmer conditions are moving further north and south. Yes, it's happening all right.

The world is hotting up. And I'm sorry to say it's all people's fault.

But it's not everyone that's doing it. Mostly it's people in rich countries -- North America, Europe and Australia. They are the ones with energy-hungry lifestyles which guzzle fossil fuels. Poor people like those in most African countries, Asia and Latin America can't afford to travel all over the place in cars and planes, they don't have heating or air conditioning in their homes or eat fancy food. Many don't even have anything more to live in than a one-room shack with no toilet, no kitchen, no running water. These people are not the ones causing global warming. Yet they are the ones who suffer most from climate change caused by the rich. It's not fair, is it?

As for us other animals, we are innocent too because the only fuel we use is that which we get from our food ... so what are you folks going to do about it?

	Oh no Stop Global Warming! (from Amy, age 8, writing in her school magazine which she sent me) Global warming has started. A lot of people are making too much carbon dioxide called green house gasses and that green house gas goes up into the air and is making our planet hotter and then all the polar bears and penguins are dying out and all that ice turns into water and that water makes the sea level go up and floods houses and shops. Picture of flooded railway in Bombay/Mumbai city, India (by Pachyderm). In 2005, Mumbai had 896 millimetres of rain in 24 hours, turning the streets into rivers. Around 1500 people died because of the floods. (Slideshow: Marooned Mumbai)

Okay, now that you know lots about climate change, how about trying my Hot Earth quiz to see how much you really know! But don't worry, it's not all doom and gloom! Check out what you and your friends, family and schools can do. You CAN make things better! Start by clicking the arrow below...

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