• Question: why is the climate changing?

    Asked by beth5000 to Claire, Matt, Sam on 27 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Sam Geen

      Sam Geen answered on 27 Jun 2013:

      When people burn oil and coal, they release carbon dioxide into the air that had been buried underground for millions of years. The carbon dioxide can trap heat being given out by the earth and return it back to us. This is the “greenhouse effect”. This causes “global warning”, which can change weather, melt the ice caps and raise the sea level, make places too hot and dry, etc. It could be a problem if it floods places or forces lots of people to move away from their homes.

    • Photo: Claire Lee

      Claire Lee answered on 27 Jun 2013:

      What Sam said 🙂

      In broader terms, the climate is what we call a chaotic system – which is something that can vary a lot depending on the conditions. (Think of a bunch of 50 toddlers at a birthday party)

      Now, the more energy you put into a chaotic system, the more wildly it will vary. What we are doing with our carbon dioxide emissions is essentially adding energy to a chaotic system. That’s kind of like feeding all of those toddlers coca cola and sweets and then sitting back and hoping for the best.

      Probably not such a good idea!

Comments