The Climate Crisis

Climate Crisis is a term used to communicate global warming, climate change and their consequences to the world as we know it.

Billions of tons of CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) are being released into the atmosphere every year as a result of burning fossil fuels (coal, gas and oil) for traveling in our vehicles, heating our homes, producing electricity and even in the products we buy.

This increase in CO2 over the last hundred years of human activity causes what is known as the greenhouse effect causes rising global temperatures. This global warming is already resulting in devastating consequences on a global scale such as melting ice caps, severe weather extremes and rising sea-levels as temperatures have already risen by 1°C since 1880 and two thirds of this rise has happened since 1975.

In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) published a special report which called on all countries to take action to limit this global rise in temperature to 1.5 °C, as it highlighted the devastating impact a temperature rise of 2°C would have on our food security, water supply, human security and economic growth. Learn more here: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/climate-change/

In August 2021, the IPPC issued an updated report on the state of the climate crises detailing that the earth is now at 1.1°C. Learn more here: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ 

South Derbyshire Declared a Climate Emergency in June 2019. You can find more about our Climate and Environment Strategy and annually updated action plans here: https://www.southderbyshire.gov.uk/our-services/climate/climate-and-environment-emergency 

Gallery

  • Historic C02 Emissions
  • UK annual temperature
  • Greenhouse Effect
  • IPPC 2021 report overview