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The jagged line
charts CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere over the past 650,000 years. CO2 concentrations are important, because
CO2 in the atmosphere traps heat from the sun – the greenhouse effect.
Records show that
when CO2 concentrations fall, world temperatures fall, and when they rise, world
temperatures rise. The top right
represents the present era, and the dips are the ice ages, with periods of
warming in between.
The dot on the line,
on the right hand side of the logo, shows where CO2 concentrations are now – way
above anything previously occurring in over half a million years. The line is rising steeply, and within
only a few decades, if we don’t make rapid and significant reductions in our
global carbon emissions, CO2 concentrations may be up at the top of the
line.
This would be
catastrophic. But it needn’t
happen. We just all need to
act.
For more information
on climate change try these links:
www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/policy/climatechange
