When Sea Levels Attack!

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Kiribati: Pushing against the tide (World Bank)

As one of the most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, Kiribati has been undertaking a range of adaptation strategies.

Read the full article from the World Bank here.
Geographers Follow @WorldBank on Twitter!

Stern Review

In 2006, Sir Nicholas Stern carried out the most comprehensive review ever carried out on the economics of climate change.

The following articles and websites provide some excellent sources to research the findings and recommendations of the report...

Stern Review on the economics of climate change Directgov 30th October 2006
Climate change fight 'can't wait' BBC News 31st October 2006
At-a-glance: The Stern Review BBC News 30th October 2006
So what does the Stern Report mean for the world? The Independent 31st October 2006

Climate change in Africa

This is one of the compulsory case studies for Unit 1 Global Challenges. The following articles are particularly useful!

BBC News Climate change 'hitting Africa' 28th October 2006
Christian Aid The economic cost of climate change
The Independent Climate change will be catastrophe for Africa 16th May 2006
World Wildlife Fund Impact of Climate Change
The Guardian Climate change will devastate Africa 28th October 2009
Oxfam Horn of Africa drought: Climate change and future impacts on food security
BBC News Climate change 'will dry Africa' 29th November 2005

Glacier melt changes Italian border

The border between Italy and Switzerland is being redrawn as glaciers along the frontier melt. The border was last changed in 1861 when Italy became a unified state, but this time the shift is being blamed on climate change.

The Animals Save the Planet

Created by Aardman, The Animals Save the Planet are a series of funny animated short films that feature tips from animals on how to live an eco-friendly lifestyle.



The Animals Save the Planet website hosts the videos in a high quality version. The cows is my favourite!

Planet Earth Online

Planet Earth Online

An excellent resource from the Natural Environment Research Council full of relevant articles for the World at Risk unit.

20/20/20

Some useful geography in the news today on the issue of global warming. EU leaders have reached a deal to cut carbon emissions by 20% by 2020, compared with 1990 levels. Take a look at the BBC article here.

Whilst you are on that BBC page, check out some of the other links, especially with reference to the IPCC. There's also an animated guide to the greenhouse effect and a great link to 'state of the planet, in graphics'.

Seeing this in the news reminded me of one of my favourite images...

Year 12 practice exam question on climate change

On Tuesday afternoon you will have your first experience of the new assessment materials/exam questions for the World at Risk unit. As promised, these are your key areas of revision...

• short, medium and long term methods of investigating climate change
• the arguments for natural or human causes of climate change/global warming

Here are two absolutely fantastic learning zone clips from the BBC which support everything we covered when learning about the above two bullet points...

1. Evidence of climate change: This clip looks at two main pieces of evidence for climate change; the effects of temperature on tree ring widths over the shorter term and ice cores as evidence of longer term fluctuations. It finishes by sugeesting that continental drift has a part to play over the longest time scale.



2. Causes of climate change: The clip covers climate change over a range of timescales Long term changes include changes in the suns output, the orbit of the earth, the tilt of the earths axis, wobble in the earth's axis of rotation. The clip finishes by looking at how changes in albedo and increased urbanisation and industry have influenced global warming through increased pollution.

The Day After Tomorrow

8x2 have finished their assessment one week before the next rotation, so we are wrapping up the Sustainability unit by looking at the depiction of climate change and the potential effects in the film 'The Day After Tomorrow'. We are ultimately deciding whether it is scientific truth, environmental pressure, or just a disaster movie. Here's the YouTube trailer for the film...



We discussed whether the hailstorm scene in Tokyo is realistic or not. Check out this YouTube video...


Now what do you think?

Climate change in our World: A new vision of climate change through Google Earth

Explore and learn about the impacts of climate change and find out how you can make a difference with Climate Change in our World. The Met Office Hadley Centre, British Antarctic Survey and UK Government have harnessed Google Earth technology to present you with an interactive animation showing how climate change and global temperature rises could affect our world over the next 100 years.

When you click on the Met Office or DFID icons, a boxes appear providing various information on how people in that place are coping with the effects of climate change.

Find the KML file that will create the layer for Google Earth here. (Make sure you have Google Earth installed on your computer!). This video demonstrates how to use layer.

Smart choices for the carbon conscious...

Brought to you by the BBC

Want to know what actions can have the biggest impact on your carbon emissions? Bloom helps you choose actions tailored to your home and lifestyle, then lets you compare them by how much CO2 they save, how cheap they are or how easy other Bloomers have found them.

Experts at the BBC have studied over 50 things you can do to tackle climate change (with many more to follow soon). Each action is represented by a seed. Their 'gardener' will ask questions to identify which ones suit you best. When you find an action you plan to do, or one you've already done, plant the seed and watch it bloom. Your collection of Blooms shows the progress you've made!

Click on the image to go to their site...perhaps you can could have a go as a household?

Youtube videos on climate change

Year 8 have been studying Sustainability this term. As part of the unit, we looked at various youtube videos connected to climate change.

Here's the most recent Act on CO2 advert...

Here's a couple of your favourites