21st Century Climate Change
Predicting how climate might change in the future is performed on computers. Scientists calculate how much pollution mankind is likely to release in the future, and then use a computer to determine the effect this pollution will have on the Earth's climate. If the Earth continues to warm as scientists have predicted, the temperature at the Earth's surface may be 3°C warmer by 2100 than it is today. This rapid change in temperature would be harmful to many ecosystems, and many species of plants and animals.
Predictions of future climate change are not certain. However, most people agree that global warming is likely to continue in the 21st century. The speed at which the climate is predicted to change is faster than anything that has occurred in the past due to natural changes, like at the end of the last Ice Age.
Print Topic
Websites
Other topics
Technical Page
• Schools Database
• DETR
• Introduction
• 20th Century
• 21st Century
• British Isles
• Climate Change
• Doing Our Bit
• Extreme Weather
• Greenhouse Effect
• Greenhouse Gases
• Impacts
• Sea Level