Category: climate change

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 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.

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.

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.

 

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.

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.

Do you think that the businessmen of the 1700s were aware that the burning of coal could affect the climate of the Earth?

If were are aware of this now, should this affect whether  we choose to burn coal and oil.

What do you think?

 

Notes on the story

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 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.

 

 

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.

The 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.

 

 

 

 

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 111 mm higher than it was in 1993. This increases the risk of flooding in coastal areas.

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

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: what can we do about it?

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?

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.

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

Climate change and the weather

The climate of the whole world  is changing because of the rising temperatures. Scientists think that  increasing levels of carbon dioxide gas in the air are  making these changes worse.

The Earth is now an average of two degrees warmer than it was in the 1700s, before the start of the industrial revolution.

We should try to do two things: to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air and to try to look after and encourage the wildlife in our local areas.

Burning fuels, such as coal, petrol, gas and oil are the main ways that we add carbon dioxide to the air. As a country we are aiming to increase the amount of energy we produce from “renewable ” sources of energy that do produce carbon dioxide. Last year 45% of the UK’s energy was produced from such sources, which include wind, solar, hydroelectric and nuclear power.

We can think about switching from petrol to electric cars and to insulate our homes better to reduce the heat we lose to the air. We use less electricity and gas and save money at the same time!

 

We can recycle our waste, so it gets reused and this reduces the amount of energy needed to produce new goods. Reducing aluminium food trays, cans and foil can save about 95% of the energy needed to replace these products from raw materials.

 

We can grow more plants and grow more trees. Plants are very good at removing carbon dioxide from the air. Scientists are trying to restore lost habitats like forests, wetlands and marshes, that are very good at removing carbon dioxide from the air. This is called ‘rewilding’.

The Meadows next to Nowhere Wood is a rewilding project.

We can encourage the wildlife in our gardens, parks and school grounds. Bird and bat boxes and bee hotels can provide places where birds, bats and solitary bees can live safely.

 

Solving the problem of climate change is difficult and needs all of us to work together to make it happen. Every person can make a small difference, but these differences add together to make a big change.

 

 

Notes on the story

A tribute to fallen trees