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What is climate change? - Summary
Climate change is one of the biggest environmental challenges facing our planet. In this KS1 explainer from The Regenerators, pupils discover the difference between weather and climate, learn how greenhouse gases affect Earth's atmosphere and explore why global temperatures are rising.
In this video, students will learn:
- The difference between weather and climate.
- What greenhouse gases are and how they help keep Earth warm.
- How burning fossil fuels increases greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere.
- How climate change can affect weather patterns and sea levels.
- How people's actions can help reduce climate change.
Classroom video - Climate change
What is climate change?
Our explainers are engaging, collage-style animations which explain many of the issues and themes around sustainability.
This video is a fun, concise answer to the question: Why is our climate changing? It is the perfect springboard for classroom discussions.
Narrator: Some days it can be raining, or sunny, snowing, raining again! Rain, sun, snow, wind are all different types of weather. If we know what kind of weather a place has over a long time, we call that its climate.
Somewhere hot and dry, won't have the same type of plants and animals plants and animals as somewhere hot and wet.
You couldn't find a fish living up a tree, or could you? There is a huge layer of gases around the planet called the atmosphere. This contains a layer of greenhouse gases greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.
The greenhouse gas layer acts a bit like a blanket, trapping heat and keeping everything here warm and safe. But like a blanket it can also trap too much heat. Like being in a classroom on a hot day, if we close some of the windows, the room very quickly gets hotter and uncomfortable.
The closed windows are letting the light and the heat in, but not out again. The windows are like the earths layer of greenhouse gases, only made from glass instead of gas.
As humans burn fossil fuels and farm unsustainably, more greenhouse gases are being released into the atmosphere. This means that more heat is getting trapped and the planet is getting hotter.
We're getting more extreme weather like heatwaves, floods and storms. In cold parts of the world, ice and snow are melting. When ice on land melts, more water goes into the oceans. If we carry on getting hotter, the waves at the beach will come in further and we might just find a fish, in a place that used to be a forest.
Our actions can hurt the planet, but we can also help heal the planet. And we can all make a difference. If we stop closing the windows the room stops getting hotter, then we can all breath a little easier and live safe in the knowledge that our climate won't continue to change.
Quick facts about climate change
- Climate describes the typical weather patterns of a place over a long period of time.
- Greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide and methane, help trap heat in Earth's atmosphere.
- Burning fossil fuels releases additional greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
- Climate change can lead to more extreme weather, including heatwaves, floods and storms.
Let's discuss: What actions do you think people can take to help reduce climate change?
Learn more about sustainability
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