There is strong evidence that global temperatures are rising and our eco systems are threatened by this change. The earth’s average surface temperature rose by 0.6°C during the 20th century and evidence suggests that most of the global warming over the last 50 years is attributable to industrial and agricultural activities which cause emissions of potent greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Climate change will affect the basic elements of life for people around the world –access to water, food production, health, and the environment. Hundreds of millions of people could suffer hunger, water shortages and coastal flooding as the world warms. If no action is taken to reduce emissions, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere could reach double its pre-industrial level as early as 2035, virtually committing us to a global average temperature rise of over 2°C leading to major changes in where people live and how they live their lives. Climatologists predict that for the UK, more severe floods are to be expected, low-lying coastal areas and flood plains are under threat and that we will have wetter, warmer winters and dryer, hotter summers.