Cool Kids For A Cool Climate

 

Climate Change Explained

By Paul Hudson

Planet earth relies on a natural greenhouse effect to keep us warm.

Natural greenhouse gases are Carbon Dioxide, Methane and water vapour, which act as a trap to the warmth generated by incoming solar radiation. Without it our climate would be similar to that of Mars, with temperatures way below zero, unsuitable to sustain life. In the past 200 years, man has discovered and freely consumed fossil fuels, at first during the Industrial revolution, and now with our ever increasing appetite for gas guzzling cars. This generates Carbon Dioxide in great quantities, which, as a greenhouse gas, acts to trap more of the earth's incoming heat.

Overall the effect has been to slowly heat up the earth and the seas, effectively adding more energy to the oceans. The result is that weather systems have more energy, creating more extremes such as heavy rain and winds, which cause flooding and structural damage. Coupled with this we are currently eliminating the earth's biggest natural consumer of Carbon Dioxide - the rainforests that span the globe - which causes a double whammy of more Carbon Dioxide emitted, and less forest to absorb it.

It is still unclear as to what will happen to the climate of Yorkshire. In the short term, heavier and more intense spells of weather will undoubtedly lead to further flooding. A warmer planet will also cause the Polar ice caps to melt, leading to a rise in sea levels and an increased risk of coastal flooding and erosion. More interestingly, the Gulf Stream's strength and direction is in part a function of the salinity of the sea. As the polar ice caps melt, the sea becomes diluted which, so some theories suggest, will act to cut off the Gulf Stream before it reaches our shores.

Our country is on the same latitudes as Canada and if it wasn’t for the warming influence of the Gulf Stream, we would experience the harsh winters similar to those that they do. And so, in theory we may see our climate revert to a much colder type, typified by heavy winter snowfall.

Paul Hudson is the weatherman for BBC Look North covering Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
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