What is climate change?

Climate change is an alteration of the earth’s general weather conditions of which the most prominent change is the rising temperature of the earth’s surface.

Climate Change happens quicker than in the past and does not leave much time for humanity to adapt.

Apart from increasing average temperature, climate change also includes changes in rainfall patterns and changes in extreme weather events that lead to floods and droughts.

Climate has changed as long as the world has existed. But it changes much quicker nowadays. Therefore it is real and is already with us and various changes resulting from climate change have already been observed including, among many others:

• Measured increases in the average global temperature;
• Measured rises in the average global sea level;
• Reduced snow cover in the northern hemisphere;
• Significantly increased rainfall in eastern parts of North and South America, northern Europe and northern and central Asia;
• The frequency of heavy rainfall events has increased over most land areas - consistent with warming and increases of atmospheric water vapour;
• More intense and longer droughts have been observed since the 1970s, particularly in the tropics and subtropics;
• Widespread changes in extreme temperatures have been observed;
• Cold days, cold nights and frost less frequent;
• Hot days, hot nights, and heat waves more frequent.