Global Warming’s Ticking Time Bomb Timeline
By Eilidh Henderson and Luke Miller-McMillan
Global Warning
It is no secret that it is getting hotter and hotter, but what does this mean for OUR planet? Well, the way to find this out is by retracing our steps and figuring out where it all began. If we learn about the changes throughout the years , we can see just how far we have come and how much WE have to do to prevent disaster. Let’s travel back in time…
Taking it right back to 1980 ( a long long time ago, right?) there were already signs that Earth was changing for the worst, but it was in this year that we really started to notice the impact that the way we choose to live our lives was having on our home.
The average global temperatures began to slowly rise from 14.18°C to 14.31°C in the space of only ten years. This shows that slowly but surely, the Earth was suffering. We noticed this and decided to have a first meeting to talk about how we all can fix this. This was called the ‘Earth Summit’ in Rio, Brazil. The UN General Assembly group worked together and tried to find ways of fighting global warming, but they did not find a way to agree.
This meant that the problem kept getting worse. It is shocking that the 10 warmest years we have faced have only occurred since 2005, with some parts of the world warming faster than others. The air over land was beginning to warm faster than the oceans. We knew that this was becoming a problem so the UK government decided to put in place a Climate Change Act in 2008, where they planned to set a target for 2050 to lower the levels of carbon budgets. (This is as a set amount of money that needs to be in line with what is needed to keep global warming manageable).
Skipping ahead to an important milestone in our global warming journey, scientists found that the ocean heat was the highest in recorded history. Earth’s warming trend continued in 2019, making it the second-hottest year in the National Oceanic Animal Association’s 140-year climate record. This was placed just behind 2016. High ocean-heat content can and WILL contribute to the sea-level rises.
We have to make a change.
2020 was the perfect time for this. Temperatures in land area were the warmest they have ever been, and everyone began to get serious about making changes. People began to realise that that we can handle this in our daily lives by taking it into our own hands by using less plastic and learning to recycle properly, travelling by foot or in zero carbon transport and even using renewable energy sources like solar panels,
There are PLENTY of ways that we can choose to stop these temperatures from rising so make these choices. Help to save the planet that we know and love!
https://www.sustainable-environment.org.uk/Action/Earth_Summit.php
https://www.currentresults.com/Environment-Facts/changes-in-earth-temperature.php
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-temperature
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2008/27/contents
