• Explore the key scientific concepts of global climate change.
• Study the major symptoms of global climate change.
• Analyze the causes of climate change and see how human activities affect the climate.
• See the consequences of global climate change for ecosystems and human society.
• Recognize the moral principles, goals, and virtues needed for making sound policy and lifestyle responses to global climate change.
• Investigate why and how the challenge of global climate change is raising spiritual questions.
• Consider an environmental action that addresses climate change in your community.

CLIMATE CHANGE 

Week 1 

Prepared by Tavishi Guptaand Yashika Aggarwal  

Task of Week 1 :

• What is your idea on Climate Change ?
• What is Climate Change Locally ?

Submit a Video on climate change created by you and add images 

• Add Causes  

WHAT IS OUR IDEA ON CLIMATE CHANGE ?

1. Climate change as per me can be defined as the change in the atmosphere caused by human activities that lead to releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere causing global warming. Climate change can also be defined as the change in temperature of the atmosphere being too hot or too cold causing harm to the environment. - Tavishi Gupta 
2. Climate change is any sort of change in the environment and its climate. It can be caused due to various reasons, global warming being the greatest one. 

WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE LOCALLY ?

1. a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels. 

2. These changes have a broad range of observed effects 

CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE 

Here are some causes of climate change:- 

1. Rapid Industrialization - When there is rapid increase in population and industrialization it results in deforestation , that releases a lot of carbon dioxide that is harmful for the environment.
2. Pollution - Emission of pollutants can lead to climate change , for example - the mode of transportation we use requires petroleum that is a non-renewable source and releases a lot of carbon dioxide and contributes to climate change.

EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE 

Here are some effects of climate change:

1. Loss of wildfire and biodiversity 
2. Land degradation 
3. Rising temperatures / Unpredicting weather patterns 
4. Rising sea levels 
5. Electricity blackouts 

WEEK 1 - Saanvi Gupta, Abeer Sherwani, Dakshika Kutro & Aisha Abraham

What is climate change ? (Abeer)

• Climate is pretty similar to weather. Climate is the weather of a certain place measured over a long period of time. The climate of an area can include seasonal temperatures. rainfall averages and wind patterns. Climates differ from place to place, for example the climate of a desert will be expected to be an arid climate because it has very little water fall during the year. Some other types of climates can be tropical climates which are hot and humid and temperate climates which have warm summers and colder winters. 

What are the Causes of Climate change? (Saanvi)

Human activity is the main cause of climate change.Humans are increasingly influencing the climate and the earth's temperature. Enormous amounts of greenhouse gases to those naturally occurring in the atmosphere, increasing the greenhouse effect and global warming.

• Rapid Industrialization - The rapid population growth associated with industrialization. Larger population leads to increased demand for products, higher levels of production and consumption and, inevitably, elevated levels of greenhouse gases.

• Deforestation - Trees help to regulate the climate by absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere. When they are cut down, that beneficial effect is lost and the carbon stored in the trees is released into the atmosphere, adding to the greenhouse effect.

• Agricultural Practises - Pesticides, fertilizers and other toxic farm chemicals can poison fresh water, marine ecosystems, air and soil. They also can remain in the environment for generations.

• Increasing livestocks - Livestock farming creates a huge carbon footprint and has a very high global warming potential. Livestocks produce large amounts of methane in digestion of their food and waste. Livestock industries create a lot of carbon emissions in the atmosphere

• Transportation - Transport is a major user of energy, and burns most of the world's petroleum. This creates air pollution, including nitrous oxides and particulates, and is a significant contributor to global warming through emission of carbon dioxide.

What is your personal connection to climate change? (Aisha)

• As children, we are the generations that are going to be living and experiencing the future. Therefore, although the affects of climate change might not harm the current adult and older generations, they will harm our futures.
• As students, we have to learn to be conscious of our resources and environment, as we will carry these values onwards and teach others around us to be careful as well to make sure we have lives with a worry free environment.
• Living in a country like India, we have witnessed the sudden increase and change in temperature, as well as the off-season rains and storms that harm our country's agricultural and resource mining industries. These changes are directly impacting the way we live. Therefore if we don’t do something or encourage others to do something about this problem, our lives will keep changing for the worse.