Climate change has become a frequently discussed topic in recent years, but in the last year there has been more and more discussion about it. The reason for this is that hardly a day goes by without major news about unusual weather patterns.

Just this summer and fall (2007), we have seen flooding in the UK and the US. The drought in parts of Australia has been even more acute than usual, and Greece and California have experienced massive bushfires. By far the most dramatic, however, has been the completely unexpected degree of melting from the Northwest Passage in the Arctic, and we have all seen the satellite images showing greatly reduced ice cover across the entire Arctic region.

Global climate change is the biggest environmental threat facing the planet. Climate change can occur naturally and many argue that despite the majority scientific opinion that the cause is human activity, the cause is natural. Others argue that the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere sounds like it has increased enormously, the actual amount compared to the other gases is still very small. They reason that as it is still a very small proportion of our atmosphere, how could it be having the effect attributed to it?

However, despite questions of this kind, the climate change or global warming we have seen coincides with the increase in population and human activity since the beginning of the industrial revolution, and it would be rare if anyone could deny it. Therefore, most of us are beginning to accept global warming as a reality, and more than human-caused climate change as a fact.

The impacts of climate change range from affecting agriculture, further jeopardizing food security, rising sea levels and accelerated erosion of coastal areas, as well as increasing the intensity of natural weather extremes. The reality of climate change and humanity’s causal role in the process are facts that must now be universally accepted.

Increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are likely to further accelerate the rate of climate change. Unfortunately, it will be the poor, the young and the weak who will suffer the most. Children in developing countries are likely to face the greatest risks from climate change.

However, we must not despair. There is much to do and much that can be done that will make a difference. The Kyoto Protocol is the international plan to reduce pollution from climate change. Europe has led the diplomatic efforts that produced the Kyoto agreement. It’s far from perfect, but it’s the only show in town that can make a difference in developing nations.

Rich countries like the United States and Australia don’t want to take action to stop climate change. That’s understandable, as your savings will suffer if you create large additional costs for businesses. It is argued that the additional load has not yet been shown to produce the degree of enhanced sustainability that our planet will need to recover in time and avoid the worst effects. However, such feelings are becoming less common.

Such ideas have been strongest in the United States. Yet former US Vice President Gore now shares the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change. He is starting an election campaign for George Bush’s successor, and even Bush is softening toward actively supporting climate change relief policies.

Across the US, local governments are also increasingly tackling climate change with their own solutions, leaving plenty of room for optimism.

In Kyoto it was decided that developed nations would reduce their emissions and that they would also pay developing nations to avoid or reduce their increasing emissions of carbon dioxide. The best way to make this work, it was reasoned, would be to create a market out of “carbon credits”, the tonnages of carbon saved by Western investment. The market would allow carbon-intensive companies in developed countries to offset their ongoing emissions at home by paying for emissions savings abroad. This would have the additional benefit of increasing the income of the poorest nations.

The British government, which is convinced that climate change must be tackled, is leading the UK in its ambitious self-set emission reduction targets. Many other European nations also have similar policies. The Scandinavian countries are even further along in their emission reduction programs than the UK.

So the science is clear: climate change is happening and is directly related to human activity. To stop climate change, global greenhouse gas emissions must be significantly reduced. But how much and when should we change clothes?

Much of the temperature data and computer models used to predict climate change are uncertain, but experts now agree that the world must react very quickly now, or the control problem will become exponentially more difficult.

The cost associated with the effects of climate change is projected to increase substantially over time with rising temperatures, and the longer we take to do so, the worse it will be. Saying that is just common sense.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is one of the organizations working globally and in the UK to raise awareness about the causes and impacts of climate change and the solutions available. Wildlife organizations emphasize that biodiversity will be severely affected by climate change and rising sea levels, with many species at increased risk of extinction.

However, for some species, the climate will be good, but at great human cost. The story of the inconspicuous mosquito illustrates a sobering consequence of climate change. Less frost and generally warmer temperatures will allow diseases like malaria to spread in more temperate climates. The species best suited to adapt may not be the ones people want to survive.

Overall, we can reduce our demands on nature and the tons of carbon dioxide emitted by embracing sustainable development. Sustainable development can increase adaptive and mitigation capacity, and reduce the vulnerability of societies to the impacts of climate change. Humans are already adapting to climate change, and more adaptation efforts will be needed in the coming decades.

New technologies are part of man’s adaptation and are being developed that are ‘green’ and will help reduce or even reverse the effects of climate change. These technologies will help us to be better stewards of the environment and will help us meet the serious challenge of global climate change.

Much can be done to stop catastrophic climate change, but decisive action by governments and industry is needed now. Today, steps are being taken at all levels to reduce, avoid and better understand the risks associated with climate change.

Climate Change For Better Or Worse is a website launched to help you understand what climate change is and how you can take action to combat it. Without action, climate change will drive countless species to extinction and destroy some of the world’s most precious ecosystems, putting millions of people at risk. Disease, declining crop yields, and natural disasters are just some of the other impacts of climate change that could follow and devastate the world’s most vulnerable communities.

Delaying emission reduction measures limits opportunities to achieve stabilization low levels and increases the risk of severe impacts from climate change. Act now to encourage your politicians to take urgent action.

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