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GLOBAL WARMING, CLIMATE CHANGE, CARBON, GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND TRANSPORT

What is global warming?
Global warming is caused by increased concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide in the Earth's atmosphere. Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC)

These gases act like a blanket, trapping heat as it leaves the Earth and sending some of it back, making the Earth warmer overall. Greenhouse gases are emmited over time due to natural changes and as a result of human activity.

Human activities that produce greenhouse gas emissions include:

burning fossil fuels—coal, oil, petrol and gas
using electricity generated by burning fossil fuels
sending food and garden waste to landfill—their decay in the absence of fresh air produces a mixture of greenhouse gases
using motorised transport
clearing land
industrial processes such as making cement and aluminium.

Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO)

What are greenhouse gases?
The main greenhouse gases produced by these human activities include:

carbon dioxide
methane
nitrous oxide
manufactured gases such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and some of their replacements.

As our population grows, so does our demand for energy, land, food and industrial products. This means more greenhouse gases are emitted into the Earth's atmosphere each year. Since the Industrial Revolution, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere has grown by more than a third as a result of human activities to its current measurement of 380 parts per million.

The extra heat trapped by these gases changes the Earth's complex climatic system and this causes a variety of changes at regional and local levels. This increase in temperature is causing changes in climate patterns known as climate change.

What is climate change?
Climate change includes rising sea levels, more severe storms, changes in rainfall patterns, increased risk of bushfires and adverse impacts on ecosystems.

Australia is very vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including:

a rise in the average temperature of 1.4—5.8°C this century some studies suggest that sea levels could rise a metre or more by 2100 as the worlds oceans expand and glaciers in the northern and southern hemispheres melt
more severe droughts, heat waves, floods and storms
fewer frosts and less snow in Alpine areas
changes in rainfall patterns
a higher likelihood of bushfires
stresses on plants, animals and human health as climate patterns shift.

Some facts about Australia's emissions
Australia's greenhouse gas emissions in 2005 were 559 million tonnes
Australia contributes around one and a half per cent of the world's annual greenhouse gas emissions
Australia will reduce its emissions by 87 million tonnes a year by 2010
Australia's Kyoto Protocol target requires limiting emissions to 108 per cent of 1990 levels by 2010
Transport represents 14% of Australia's greenhouse gas carbon emissions.
Content on this page has been adapted from Climate Clever

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