Climate change and the air

The air is all round us and is a mixture of many different gases. 78% of the air is made of nitrogen, which  is the most common gas. This story is about two other gases found in the air – oxygen and carbon dioxide.

 

 

We breathe out carbon dioxide
We breathe out carbon dioxide

We breathe in oxygen and use it to release energy from sugar. At the same time we make carbon dioxide – all living organisms do the same. We all  do this to stay alive.

People  also make carbon dioxide when we burn fuels, such as coal, oil, petrol and wood.

Nailsea was once a very small village

If we go back over three hundred years to the 1700’s, Nailsea was a a tiny village surrounded by farms. Few people lived there, then. People burned wood or peat (from the moors) to stay warm.  They walked everywhere or travelled horse and cart.

 

Carbon dioxide in the air is measured in units called ‘parts per million’. Scientists  have estimated that in the early 1700’s the carbon dioxide in the air was about 280 parts per million.

An artist’s reconstruction of Middle Engine Pit, Nailsea. Artwork by Mark Hornby. From https://www.nailseatown.com/heritage-trail/middle-engine-pit/

However, things were beginning to change in Nailsea: the first coalmine was opened in 1700 and this would transform the village into a town in the next ninety years. The mines employed experienced miners who came to live in the town as well as local farmworkers.

 

Nailsea Glassworks
Nailsea glassworks

Plenty of cheap coal led to the opening of the glass factory and more migration of people into the town.  The arrival of the railway in 1841 provided new opportunities to trade with Bristol and its ports. The steam trains were powerful and burned coal.

In Nailsea, new houses were built together with  new roads and shops. Trendlewood quarry was opened in 1850 to provide sandstone tiles for the roofs of the new houses.

 

All of this activity added carbon dioxide to the air in increasing amounts.  Trees can take carbon dioxide out of the air, but the local woods were gradually chopped down to make way for the new town and for farmland. The wood was burned as fuel.

This pattern of industrialisation has taken place everywhere, all over the world since then. It continues to do so, too. In 2024, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air is estimated at 423 parts per million. This is a rise of 51% since the 1700s.

Does all of this matter? Most scientists think it matters a lot, but some politicians want to disagree.

greenhouse effect

Carbon dioxide in the air acts like a blanket, reflecting heat energy back towards the land and the sea. In this way, it acts like glass in a greenhouse. The warming caused by the increased carbon dioxide is sometimes called “the greenhouse effect”.

 

 

Increased levels of carbon dioxide in the air affects the climate and weather patterns across the world, as we shall see in the next story.

 

Notes on the story

Climate change and the weather

Climate change and the weather

Most scientists think that the Earth is getting warmer and that human activities are making it worse. This story looks at some of the evidence they use.

Weather super computer
A weather super computer at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (https://www.noaa.gov/)

Weather experts collect millions of temperature measurements from all around the world every day. They put these results into powerful computers that build a picture of the climate across the world every day. Their results suggest that 2024 was the hottest year ever recorded.

 

BBC graph of global temperatures since 1940
Global average temperatures for 2024 were around 1.6C above those of the pre-industrial period – the time before humans started burning large amounts of fossil fuels

The temperature of the Earth in 2024 is about 1.5°C higher than it was in 1880, before large factories, cars, and airplanes existed. The yearly temperatures since 2020 include three of the hottest years since we started recording temperatures.

 

 

 

 

A 1.5°C rise in temperature does not sound like much, but it is having a big effect on the weather around the world.

hurricane Helene devastated towns in Florida, US, in 2024The temperature of the water in the seas in 2024 was the hottest ever. This causes the wind speeds to increase in tropical storms, causing huge damage when they hit coastal towns.

 

 

Flooding in Backwell Bow, 2024
Flooding in Backwell Bow, 2024

Warm air can hold more water than colder air, so rainstorms can be more powerful and last longer. Flooding in low-lying areas becomes more common.

The level of the sea in 2024 is about 111mm higher than it was in 1993. This increases the risk of flooding in coastal areas.

 

 

Nyangai Island off the coast of Sierra Leone
Nyangai Island off the coast of Sierra Leone is being lost to the sea

Some small islands in the ocean are at risk of disappearing due to the rising sea waters. Nyangai Island off the coast of Sierra Leone has almost been lost to the waves.

 

 

 

polar bear on Arctic ice floe
An adult polar bear that came near to the Arctic Sunrise, wandering around the ship for sometime.

The rising sea levels are being made worse by the melting of the ice in the Arctic and Antarctic. Summer ice in the Arctic is disappearing by about 12% every ten years. It is affecting the survival of polar bears.

 

 

 

Notes on the story

Climate change and new arrivals

Climate change and new arrivals

Some animals and plants can’t live in Nowhere Wood because it’s too cold or too wet for them. But the climate has warmed by about 1°C since the 1970s. This small change has allowed new species to come and live in the wood because the climate now suits them better.

Rosel's bush cricket
A pair of Rosel’s bush crickets were found on Golden Vallety field in 2019.

In 2019, a pair of Roesel’s bush crickets were found in Golden Valley field. They seem to have bred successfully. The warmer climate has helped them find more places to live. They are moving northwards from the South of England and have migrated more than 50 miles over the past 20 years.

 

 

Downland Villa bee fly
This Downland Villa bee fly looks like a bee, but it is actually a fly

The Downland Villa bee fly was first seen in Sussex in 2016 and has been moving northwards, probably because of the warmer climate. These flies look like solitary bees, which are bees that do not live in hives or colonies. The bee fly feeds on solitary bees by dropping their eggs into the bees’ nest, where they hatch and eat the bee larvae.

 

Scientists think there may be over fifty species of animals arriving in the UK because of climate change, although most of them have not yet arrived in Nowhere Wood!

  1. Crickets eat grass. Do you think the arrival of the Roesel’s bush crickets will harm or help the wild life that live on Golden Valley fields?
  2. Roesel’s bush crickets seem to have bred successfully on Golden Valley. What does this mean? How will this help the survival of the crickets in the area?
  3. How might the arrival of the Downland Villa bee fly affect the solitary bees in Nowhere Wood?

 

 

Notes on the story

Climate change and the leavers

Climate change and the leavers

Rams horn gall oak wasp
The ram’s horn gall oak wasp was first found in Berkshire in 1997. It is now quite common in the Park [Picture – Andrew Town].
We can spot new arrivals in Nowhere Wood, if we have time and patience. Anyone can do this if they walk through the wood often, thinking about what they see. It is much harder to notice species that disappear because the changing climate does not suit them. Species come and go from the wood all of the time.

 

So how do we know which species have left permanently because of climate change?

News article about declining number of insects
This news article from the Natural History Museum is about declining number of insects. From: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/

One way is to combine our observations of Nowhere Wood with observations from other woods across the country. This helps us to see the ‘bigger picture’.

When we do this, we can see that we do have a problem: London’s Natural History Museum reports that “UK’s flying insects have declined by 60% in 20 years”.

 

Three reasons are given for this fall in numbers,  rising temperatures caused by climate change,  loss of suitable habitats and the use of harmful chemicals as pesticides.

The hairy-footed flower bee, pollinating a lungwort flower
The hairy-footed flower bee, pollinating a lungwort flower [Picture – Andrew Town].
Losing insects could have serious effects on Nowhere Wood and the surrounding farmlands. Bees are insects that are suffering this fall in numbers. They help to pollinate many crops, including the apple trees in the orchards.

 

 

Many insects are food for birds and other animals. A loss of insects could lead to a reduction in the number of these animal, too.

  1. Bee hotels are sometimes used as a way to help encourage solitary bees to breed and survive. Learn how to do this here.
  2. Imagine what a world would look like without insects.  Does it matter if we lose our insects?

 

 

Notes on the story

Being and becoming in Nowhere Wood

Apples and the new year

Let’s travel back in time three hundred years or more, to the East End Farm, near the hamlet of Nowhere. 

East End farm has a few sheep and goats, some vegetables and several apple orchards.

 

 

 

c
The orchards contain a number of apple trees

Tonight the orchards are surrounded by farm workers and villagers from Nowhere, all singing and banging pots and pans. Children hang pieces of toast soaked in cider from the tree branches. 

For tonight, January 5th, is the wassail, the twelfth night of Christmas.

 

 

 

Small orchards in Somerset
The orchards contain a number of apple trees

Apples grow all across the county of Somerset, and are especially important to Nowhere and its bigger neighbour, Nailsea. Every farm brews cider, which they give to the farm hands as part of their wages. 

 

 

(Centuries later, cider would be brewed and sold in large factories. Nailsea hosted  Coates factory for over 150 years. These days, the Thatcher family brews cider at Sandford, ten miles to the southwest.)  

Wassailing at night
Wassailing at night, with burning torches

Back in Nowhere, apple trees are a sign of a healthy farm. Wise famers celebrate the good health of their orchards with a wassail.

Their people visit the apple trees by the light of burning torches.  Singing songs to them and making a lot of noise to ward off evil spirits. Hopefully, this should be enough to ensure a good harvest in the next year. 

The oldest tree in the orchard is given the greatest respect, and he is called the ‘Apple Tree Man’.

 The Apple Tree Man decides how many apples will grow in the next year. Farmers keep the Apple tree Man happy by pouring cider over his roots. 

There are several old folk tales told in Somerset about the Apple Tree Man. The next story is a modern retelling of one of these old tales.

 

 

Notes on the story

The Apple Tree Man of Nowhere

The Apple Tree Man of Nowhere

Once upon a time, there lived a young man called Henry Summers, who lived at the Farmhouse over at the East End, just below the quarry. He was a wise man, strong in the arm and of calm manner. He never beat his animals or his wife. The family farmed ten fields and had several beautiful apple orchards.

Among the trees, there was one particularly ancient apple tree that Henry’s great grandfather planted and around which all of his children had played. The tree stood tall and strong, even though it was very old.

Henry believed that this tree was extra special, and he called it the ‘Apple Tree Man’. Henry always took great care of this tree, speaking to it kindly and ensuring it had plenty of water and cider at the wassail.

One cold winter’s night, Henry was visited by a stranger who had walked from Bristol and wanted to find friends in Nowhere. His clothes were dirty and his shoes were worn out. Henry was as kind to people as he was to his goats, welcomed the stranger into his home and gave him food and cider.

The wanderer meets the young farmer
The wanderer meets the young farmer

His wife looked out some more shoes for him.  The stranger slept soundly in his clean bed that night.

The next day, the happy stranger revealed that he was, in fact, the spirit of the Apple Tree Man who had taken the form of a wanderer to test the farmer’s kindness.

The Apple Tree Man promised the farmer that as long as he continued to care for the apple trees, his orchards would make so many lovely apples every year, that he and his family would be wealthy and  joyful.

The apple trees produced many beautiful apples
The apple trees produced many beautiful apples

The Apple Tree Man was true to his word, the orchards flourished, and the farmer and his descendants enjoyed bountiful harvests for many generations. And the people of Nowhere enjoyed their cider for years to come.

 

 

Notes on the story

Climate change: new arrivals in Nowhere Wood