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What is climate change? - Summary
Climate change is the long-term change in the Earth's weather patterns, largely caused by human activities such as burning fossil fuels. In this KS2 video from The Regenerators, students learn what climate change is, what causes it and how people can help create a more sustainable future.
In this video, students will learn:
- What climate change is
- What causes climate change
- How greenhouse gases affect the planet
- The impact of climate change on people and nature
- Actions that can help reduce climate change
Classroom video - What will a climate positive future look like?
Fatima, Daz, Kayla and Jack are calling… from the future! They want to thank today's children for acting responsibly and averting a climate crisis.
Here, Fatima has to make a video for school thanking her climate heroes. She talks about the causes of climate change and how the schoolchildren of today will shape the world of the future.
Fatima: Hey people in the past. Got to make this video for school, thankin' our climate heroes.
Fatima's friend: You actually makin' a video Fatima? Who'd you pick?
Fatima: These guys. Jus' people like us but years ago, that started livin' smart. Coz yeah, back in your day, the world was getting sick. People before you were feeding the atmosphere bad stuff.
Feedin' it too many greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide and methane.
These extra gases were trappin' too much heat, stopping it from goin' into space. And all that heat was just stayin' here. Makin' the world get hotter and hotter. Changin' the climate.
Climate change. Heard of it? An' coz the world was gettin' hotter, you were gettin' all sorts of weird weather, makin' it a dangerous place to live and makin' it harder to grow food.
Things were gettin' seriously bad. So you all decided to do something about it. Takes a big person to be the change. And that's what you guys did, worked together to make a difference.
People used to be usin' planes and cars that let out fumes which polluted the air and added greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. It was bad for us, an' bad for the planet. But you guys changed all that, not flyin' when you didn't need to, changing cars powered by petrol to electric cars, an' takin' less journeys. And usin' bicycles, buses an' trains instead.
Coz the way we make energy affects the climate. Makin' energy by burnin' fossil fuels, like petrol, oil and gas - puts loads of carbon dioxide into the environment.
But you guys started usin' the energy of the environment itself.
Stuff like wind, solar and hydro power don't release greenhouse gases.
Fatima's friend: Hey Fatima? You eatin' that Snackz bar?
Fatima: Hey. You ain't havin' my Snackz bar. Leave it.
That's another big thing that was changing the climate.
What you guys were eatin'. Some people around the world were cutting down trees to make space for growing food. But this was messin' up the land and there were less trees to absorb carbon dioxide. An' sometimes that food was fed to cows and sheep which were burpin' and fartin' methane all over the place - even MORE greenhouse gases.
So instead you guys did something about it and started eating smarter. Just like I do now.
Basically, you guys started living smart. You became your best selves to give the planet the best chance.
So thanks for being my climate heroes.
Quick facts about climate change
- The Earth's average temperature is increasing.
- Burning fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases.
- Everyone can take small actions to help reduce climate change.
Let's discuss: What is one change your school could make to help the environment?
More resources for this video can be found in the Green Classroom: What is climate change? lesson page.
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