Today's Environmental News
Nasa Explains Climate Change
https://climatekids.nasa.gov/ https://climatekids.nasa.gov/climate-change-meaning/
Climate change describes a change in the average conditions — such as temperature and rainfall — in a region over a long period of time. NASA scientists have observed Earth’s surface is warming, and many of the warmest years on record have happened in the past 20 years.
What Is Climate Change?
Climate change describes a change in the average conditions — such as temperature and rainfall — in a region over a long period of time. For example, 20,000 years ago, much of the United States was covered in glaciers. In the United States today, we have a warmer climate and fewer glaciers.
Global climate change refers to the average long-term changes over the entire Earth. These include warming temperatures and changes in precipitation, as well as the effects of Earth’s warming, such as:
- Rising sea levels
- Shrinking mountain glaciers
- Ice melting at a faster rate than usual in Greenland, Antarctica and the Arctic
- Changes in flower and plant blooming times.
Earth’s climate has constantly been changing — even long before humans came into the picture. However, scientists have observed unusual changes recently. For example, Earth’s average temperature has been increasing much more quickly than they would expect over the past 150 years.
Want to know more about how we know climate change is happening? Check it all out here!
Nat-geo for Kids
https://www.natgeokids.com/au/discover/geography/general-geography/what-is-climate-change/
So, what is climate change?
Climate change (or global warming), is the process of our planet heating up.
Scientists estimate that since the Industrial Revolution, human activity has caused the Earth to warm by approximately 1°C. While that might not sound like much, it means big things for people and wildlife around the globe.
Unfortunately, rising temperatures don’t just mean that we’ll get nicer weather – if only! The changing climate will actually make our weather more extreme and unpredictable.
As temperatures rise, some areas will get wetter and lots of animals (and humans!) could find they’re not able to adapt to their changing climate.
What causes climate change?
1. Burning fossil fuels
2. Farming
3. Deforestation
How will climate change affect the planet?
The Earth has had many tropical climates and ice ages over the billions of years that it’s been in existence, so why is now so different? Well, this is because for the last 150 years human activity has meant we’re releasing a huge amount of harmful gases into the Earth’s atmosphere, and records show that the global temperatures are rising more rapidly since this time.
A warmer climate could affect our planet in a number of ways:
- More rainfall
- Changing seasons
- Shrinking sea ice
- Rising sea levels
Read More.... https://www.natgeokids.com/au/discover/geography/general-geography/what-is-climate-change/
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/science/climate-change/
Though bushfires are a common occurrence in Australia during the summer, they have never been as devastating or as widespread as the ones currently burning across the country. Since September 2019, the blazes, fueled by dry foliage and strong winds, have scorched over 15.6 million acres (24,000 square miles) — an area larger than the state of West Virginia. Even worse, officials warn that Australia's wildfire season — which generally lasts through March — is nowhere near its end. Click here to read more.
Scientists look to hack photosynthesis for a ‘greener’ planet
Artificial photosynthesis by Lindsay Patterson
Scientists have already begun copying, or mimicking, photosynthesis. Their artificial processes also use light to split oxygen and hydrogen — for energy. The dream is to eventually replace fossil fuels. If people could make energy from sun, air and water — as plants do — it would cut down on planet-warming releases of carbon dioxide. It also could create a huge new source of renewable energy.
Many researchers look to solar fuels — fuels made from sunlight — as “green” replacements for today’s carbon-based fossil fuels. These include oil, gas and coal. Sound Interesting? Take a look at the source here.
Can Technology Help Save The Kākāpō, The World's Heaviest And Only Flightless Parrot, From Extinction?
If you have felt the skies above you seem increasingly empty of chirping birds, you are not alone. A 2018 study by BirdLife International revealed that 40 percent of the world’s 11,000 bird species are in decline, and one in eight bird species is threatened with global extinction. Now, some scientists are using cutting-edge technology to revive the critically-endangered kākāpō; if successful, the techniques used may help save other bird species as well. Article continues here.
Teen Climate Change Activist Greta Thunberg Is Time's Youngest Ever "Person Of The Year"
Time Inc.'s "Person of the Year" tradition began in 1927, when the magazine commemorated 25-year-old aviator Charles Lindbergh for the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Though the media franchise has since recognized several young people for their global influence, it has never given the important distinction to a teenager. But then again, few teens are as passionate about their mission as 2019's "Person of The Year"— 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg. Interested? Read more here.
Italian Youngsters Flock To Help Clean Up Flood-Stricken Venice
Venice, which is built on 118 small islands in the middle of the Venetian Lagoon at the tip of the Adriatic Sea in Northern Italy, is no stranger to floods. The picturesque city experiences water surges from the rising tides at least four times a year, usually during winter. Read more of this article here.
