What is a Carbon Footprint

What is a Carbon Footprint?
A Carbon Footprint is a measurement of the impact our activities have on the environment, in particular global warming.

What is Global Warming?
Global warming is the rise in temperature of the earth's atmosphere.

Why is Global Warming bad?
The atmosphere is made up of layers of gases, some of which are called 'greenhouse gases'. If extra gasses are made, too much heat is kept within the earth’s atmosphere.

Why are these important?
We are producing too many Greenhouse gases (primarily Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and Nitrous Oxide), which have started to lead to increased temperatures and higher sea levels. Everyone has a social responsibility to reduce Carbon and Greenhouse gas emissions by taking simple measures.

So what could happen?
If Earth gets hotter, some of the important changes could happen:

 

• Water expands when heated, oceans absorb more heat than land so sea levels will rise. Melting glaciers and sea ice would also add to this.
• Low-lying coastal areas would flood.
• Normally cold and wet places might get hotter and drier.
• Lakes and rivers could dry up, more droughts would make it hard to grow crops.
• Less water would be available for drinking, showers and swimming pools.
• Some plants and animals might become extinct because of the heat.
• Extreme weather such as hurricanes and tornadoes (which are caused by changes in heat and water evaporation) would become more common.