What is Climate Change?

The term 'climate change' refers to the warming of the earth's atmosphere. It is caused by the growing amount of carbon dioxide and other 'greenhouse gases' in the air.

Burning oil, coal and gas in factories, homes, cars and aeroplanes emits carbon dioxide. The presence of more greenhouse gases means that the earth will get hotter.

On average every person in Staffordshire produces four times as much carbon dioxide as can be absorbed by the natural environment. That's 8.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide for every one of us and that doesn't include air travel.

Climate change affects all of us. Over time the social and financial costs of climate change will be huge, with food shortages and extreme weather events becoming more common. In Staffordshire we are likely to see heavy storms, wildfires and extreme flooding.

How you can help:

There are things that you can start to think about right now. Could you do any of the following?

Reduce flying. This is one of the most important things you can do. Depending on the flight, you could reduce your annual footprint by up to 96%.
Whenever you can, purchase locally produced, organic and seasonal food as it is likely that less energy will have been used in its production.
Car share - this is a big money saver if you do it regularly. Visit www.share-a-lift.com to answer your questions and find a sharing buddy.
Use energy saving light bulbs. They cost far less to run and last around 11 times longer than an incandescent bulb. It's a small step (each bulb will cut your footprint by around 0.14%) but an important one.
Don't leave appliances on stand-by or on charge unnecessarily. Games consoles tend to use almost as much energy on standby as they do in use. This alone could reduce your emissions by 25kg per year, making it another small step on the road to using less energy.
Turn your thermostat down. A reduction of 1 degree could cut 10% from your heating bill.
Clear out the boot of your car. Getting rid of extra weight reduces your engine's workload, burning less fuel and producing less CO₂.
Use your gears wisely to reduce revs. For diesel cars try changing up a gear when the rev counter reaches 2000rpm. For petrol cars change up at 2500rpm.

Last Modified: 16/10/2009 11:41:07
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