Can we prevent climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases?
Experiments run on global climate models show us that when we reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, we reduce the rate of rise of average global temperatures and so lessen the rate and impacts of climate change. We can therefore slow the rate of warming by changing our behaviour. However, once released into the atmosphere, carbon dioxide remains there for about 100 years. So even if we were to reduce emissions, we are committed to a certain amount of warming and are likely to see a global rise in temperature of 2°C by the end of the century (or sooner) owing to greenhouse gases currently in the atmosphere. We may need to reduce emissions by 60-80% to stabilise the climate completely. Back to TOP Isn’t there a chance that Northern Europe could get much colder? What about the Gulf Stream switching off? The UKs climate is affected by the Gulf Stream, which brings warm water from the Gulf of Mexico across the Atlantic Ocean to north west Europe. This warm water keeps the climate of the UK wa
Experiments run on global climate models show us that when we reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, we reduce the rate of rise of average global temperatures and so lessen the rate and impacts of climate change. We can therefore slow the rate of warming by changing our behaviour. However, once released into the atmosphere, carbon dioxide remains there for about 100 years. So even if we were to reduce emissions, we are committed to a certain amount of warming and are likely to see a global rise in temperature of 2°C by the end of the century owing to greenhouse gases currently in the atmosphere. We may need to reduce emissions by 60-70% to stabilise the climate completely.
