Environment Monday - Everything you need to know about climate change

For many lay people, the issues around climate change can be confusing. We read about global warming, then the UK is hit by "The Beast from the East" and has the coldest winter for years. We read about climate change scientists, but most of us don't understand what they do, who funds them and why they are relevant to our daily lives. Most of us know that 'pollution is bad', we cough when a bus goes by spewing out diesel fumes, or when we get an asthma attack following a day where there is poor air quality, but many of us are unaware that climate change is none of these things, even if these issues are all inter related.

So what do we mean when we talk about climate change and how do we know whether it's real?

Climate change, is the effect on temperatures caused by increasing levels of greenhouse gasses.
The science is very simple. When we burn fossil fuels, we release carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. CO2 is a better insulator than than oxygen, so as the level of CO2 rises, the atmosphere retains heat better than it did previously. Different materials all have different properties when it comes to retaining heat. For example, metal loses heat far more quickly than wood. As the CO2 level rises, the heat from the Sun's energy is retained and temperatures go up.

What complicates the issue is that the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere goes up and dow naturally. We don't fully understand the process, that drives this, but its most likely down to the health of the ecosystem. Volcano's and the temperature of the Sun will clearly have some effect (The sun heats up and cools down periodically).

What we do know is that plants remove CO2 from the atmosphere and use the carbon to build structures, such as leaves, branches, stalks. These then die, decay and form peat, coal, oil etc. When humans  dig them up and burn them, we release the carbon back into the atmosphere as CO2. There is a  government website that explains the changing CO2 levels of this in detail, if you are interested. It supplied these two graphs

The changes are stark and worrying. As climate changes, the eco system changes and habitats become unable to sustain the established life forms, as any changes to delicate balances disrupt the way species interact. As temperatures rise, soil dries out quicker, meaning that plants with shallow roots etc start to struggle. It is far more complex than this, but that is a small picture of some of the reasons why it matters.

What are the different viewpoints on Climate change

There are four main viewpoints.

1. People who don't care.
Sadly, it seems that the vast majority of the population don't care about climate change. For many, it doesn't seem to affect them so they are not bothered. Like many things, by the time it affects you, it is too late. Think of cancer as an analogy (something I know a bit about). If you catch it and deal with it early, before it affects you, then you can fix it. It may not be pleasant, but you can stop it killing you. If you ignore the warning signs, then sadly you might not be able to take the required action in time.

2. People who don't know.
For some, it is all too confusing. So much of it seems contradictory, especially when the President of the USA says it's all nonsense and we should ignore the experts. Surely he's the president he must know? I have sympathy with anyone who is confused. I was before I researched the matter. What I read convinced me that we must err on the side of caution. Why?  Again, if I can use a cancer analogy. When I was diagnosed in 2011 with Prostate cancer, I followed, the advice of my doctor, to go onto a programme of active surveillance. This meant regular biposies and scans. A friend, who is into alternative medicine, told me that the medical profession were lying to the public about cancer and that it could be cured simply by lifestyle changes. He'd seen videos on the internet and was convinced. I religiously watched all of these. Most seemed to actually be selling food supplements. Some of it was sense. Eventually I settled on what seemed to be sensible lifestyle changes. In 2014, my friend was telling me that the fact that it hadn't developed was down to the changes. In 2015, the cancer became more aggressive. Then it was all the fault of the dodgy doctors and me not taking more supplements. Much as I love my friends, I would prefer to trust qualified doctors, who know what they are talking about. That is why I trust climate change scientists, rather than blokes in pubs and dodgy internet videos, peddling conspiracy theories. Even the big oil companies such as BP recognise the need for change, which is why BP have a growing renewables subsidiary BP acknowledge the need to tackle climate change. They would not be doing this if there wasn't hard scientific evidence.

3. Large vested interests defending fossil fuel industries.
Petrol, Gas, Oil and Shale are big business. The companies operating in these sectors have huge investments in the business. The CEO's of these companies are employed to defend the financial issues of the shareholders in the companies. Whilst some like BP acknowledge the need for change, there is a history of corporate dragging of feet. Companies fund all manner of studies and research, in the hope that they can find ways to justify a business as usual approach to fossil fuel production. Change hurts profits, so is not something they will do unless they have to. Climate change sceptics have often been funded by such organisations. This is not because they doubt the science, but because they take the commercial viewpoint that if they can delay changing their ways for a few years it will be good for the balance sheet. Some are looking for magic bullets to fix the problem, such as carbon capture schemes or looking for other sectors of the economy to clobber.  This is pretty normal capitalist corporate behaviour. Sadly not everyone realises that science is being manipulated simply to improve the balance sheets of large corporations. Have a look at this list of climate change deniers. Sadly it seems many are mislead by these people. That is why we need to set the record straight.

4. People who recognise the need for change.
Those of us who recognise the need for change need to to take action now. We have science on our side and we have reason on our side. One of the arguments of the vested interest is that the case is not proven. Going back to my cancer analogy and my friend who was a cancer treatment sceptic stated that I should not trust the specialist. I ignored his advice. The treatment was not pleasant, but four years later, I am in a good place. I don't know how my cancer would have progressed if I'd ignored my doctors and listened to the bloke in the pub. What I do know is that when it came down to it, I wasn't prepared to risk my life on the word of a bloke in the pub who'd watched a video on the internet. I had a responsibility to myself and my family to undergo some fairly unpleasant treatment. It is the same with climate change. We can't be 100% sure exactly what will happen, but we have a small window to make a big difference. We have a responsibility to ourselves and our children to be cautious and make changes.

You may say "what difference can I make?". There are many things you can do. I started this series to outline many of them. If you enjoyed this article, read the rest in the series. But today, there is only one thing I would ask you to do. It might not be easy, but please try. If you read this article and think it makes sense and you know someone who isn't really sure what Climate change is all about, ping this onto their Facebook page or email it to them. Ask them to read it and ask them what they think of what I had to say. If they ask you a question you can't answer by all means ping me an email. I will do my best to get you an answer. If I get a few meaty questions, then I may put them into a blog. If you are a climate change sceptic, by all means email me, with the science that supports your arguments. It is only by discussing such matters in a sane and rational manner that we can hope to fix the problems of the world. And if you don't want to fix the problems facing the world, please don't email me, as we really have nothing in common.