Our warming planet

[00:00.67] We are all aware of climate change and how it is threatening our planet.

[00:06.25] Industrialisation, our disposable culture and population growth are some of the reasons why we are seeing average temperatures rise and more extreme weather events.

[00:19.00] And scientists are finding more evidence that the situation is getting worse.

[00:25.91] The rise in global temperatures is the most important thing that experts analyse.

[00:32.28] They say keeping it below 1.5 centigrade will avoid the worst climate impacts.

[00:38.92] But The World Meteorological Organisation says there’s a 20% possibility the critical mark will be broken in any one year before 2024 – and there’s a 70% chance it will be broken in one or more months in those five years.

[00:59.11] This isn’t great news for the Arctic, where the impact will be greatest: warming by twice the global average this year.

[01:10.00] Temperatures in the Siberian Arctic reached record averages in June – one area reached more than 30C.

[01:18.50] This heat helped to fan wildfires, which in turn released 59 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

[01:28.86] Meanwhile, in Western Europe, experts predict over the next five years rising sea levels will cause more storms.

[01:39.48] But these events should not surprise us.

[01:42.94] Professor Martin Siegert from Imperial College London told the BBC this is “in line with predictions of global warming going back decades now.

[01:54.36] We don’t really need further confirmation of this problem, but here it is anyway.”

[02:00.73] He thinks if you change the weather in the Arctic you are likely to see the effects ripple out around the world.

[02:09.23] We know that carbon emissions from human activities is partly to blame for our warming planet, but it seems measures to reduce this are not having much effect.

[02:20.92] The BBC’s Justin Rowlatt writing about the effects of events in the Arctic, says: “Climate scientists simply don’t know for certain what those effects are likely to be, but climate models suggest they will lead to more extreme weather events – heatwaves and severe storms.”