The Earth’s climate is getting warmer, and some of the effects are proving to be devastating. Snow and ice is melting, the oceans are rising as a result, and extreme weather events are increasing across the globe. This can lead to food insecurity and famine as crops are unable to grow, water supply shortages, ecosystems collapsing, more localised flooding and flooding of coastal regions,  forest fires and deforestation, unbearable temperatures and heat stress, conflicts over scarce resources, and climate migrants. So there is everything to lose and nothing to gain if we allow the planet temperatures to rise at the rate they are currently rising. 

We have been contributing to this problem since the industrial revolution in the mid-1800s, when we began burning vast amounts of fossil fuels which release greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon dioxide, causing them to build up in the atmosphere. The gases form a layer around the Earth which, like a blanket, traps the heat from the sun that enters the Earth’s atmosphere, causing temperatures to rise. So whilst natural events, such as volcanic activity and changes to solar activity, may be having an effect, it is our actions that are playing the most predominant part in the current climate crisis.

It’s so important that we recognize that our individual actions can have a major cumulative effect. Switching off lights and electrical goods while you are not using them, switching to greener fuel and offsetting our carbon footprints are certainly a start.

This guide provides more tips and information to help us all develop healthy habits that allow us to live greener and cleaner, and help slow, stop, or even reverse the problems we are facing with our climate today.