5 R1.T2 – Module 1: Climate Change and Sustainable Development LEARNING UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO CLIMATE CHANGE: DEFINITION, BACKGROUND AND EVOLUTION Climate change is the process of our planet heating up. The changing climate makes our weather more extreme and unpredictable. These shifts in weather patterns can be natural, but since the 1800s, human activities have been the main reason behind climate change. This is because of the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, which provide heattrapping gases (United Nations, 2022). This has led to global warming. Climate change has changed our planet dramatically – this past decade was the warmest on record, and has seen a concerning increase in drought, water scarcity, wildfires, rising sea levels, hurricanes, and storms, as well as a decrease in wildlife and plant life (United Nations, 2022). These dramatic changes have had a negative impact on the health and safety of humans across the globe due to risk of famine, relocation of entire communities away from the coast, and intense wildfires destroying entire communities and towns. If action is not taken now, these effects will only get worse. What about Youth people and climate change? Studies have shown that nearly 60% of young people are very concerned about climate change, with 75% saying that the future was frightening (Hickman, et al., 2021). Over half say they think that humanity is doomed. Young people will be the generation most affected by climate change, and these effects will only get worse for future generations to come. This is why young people have begun to become active citizens in climate action over the past decade. Across the globe young people have mobilised to use their voices to raise awareness of the drastic effects of climate change, and demand for climate action. Video See also here, this video explains what climate change is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffjIyms1BX4 “Did you know?” ü Most of the increase in global temperatures since 1950 have been caused by human activity (United Nations, 2022). ü Global temperatures have increased by about 1° Celsius in the past century (United Nations, 2022). Figure 1 - NASA chart on the increasing temperature of the Earth, image source: NASA (2021)
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