Climate Change Explained
Greenhouse gases
Our planet is surrounded by a thin layer of gases called the atmosphere. Some of the gases in the atmosphere are known as greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases insulate the Earth — they trap the sun’s heat and keep our planet warm enough to sustain life.
Some of the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere exist naturally. Again, without them, our planet would be too cold for us to survive.
However, a significant quantity of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere today have been, and continue to be, created by humans. These additional, “man-made” greenhouse gases trap the sun’s heat — just as the naturally-occurring ones do — and so, more of the sun’s heat is being trapped than our planet actually needs. In fact, too much heat is being trapped.
Warming and Climate Change
The average temperature of the Earth’s surface is rising, as are the temperatures of our oceans. These temperature increases are causing glaciers and snow caps to melt, and making our weather systems more powerful, leading to extreme and unusual weather events.
Weather patterns are also changing. Regions across the globe are experiencing changes in temperature, precipitation, humidity, winds and other weather conditions that, until now, have been more-or-less the same, year after year.
A change in weather patterns for one or two years is not climate change. When scientists study a region’s climate, they study that region’s weather patterns over a few decades. So a change in weather patterns must persist for 30 or so years before scientist will say that the region’s climate has changed.
But scientists do expect current weather pattern changes to continue and regional climates to shift, unless actions are taken to reduce the quantity of greenhouse gases currently in our atmosphere.
What you can do
You can make every day choices that can provide real, positive changes to our environment, right in your home. We can show you!
- So many choices, room by room
- Rewards and Tips
- Who's adding up all across Ontario
- How can you make a difference now
