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Global warming is bad for places like Africa, but in the UK we’ll have better weather.

Scientists believe that areas that are already dry and prone to drought - like certain regions of Africa -  will get even hotter and dryer  as a result of global warming,  but it does not necessarily follow that places like the UK will get warmer.  As the Earth’s temperature rises, the polar ice caps start to melt, and the icy water flows into the oceans. As the oceans get colder (due to the ice water from the melted ice caps), the ocean currents may change.  For example, the  reason we have a mild climate in the UK is due to the Gulf Stream - a current that brings warm water from the tropics up to Britain.  But, if the oceans get colder, it is possible that the Gulf Stream will no longer bring warm water up to Britain, and we could have a climate more like Canada or Moscow, with long, freezing winters, with temperatures of  40 degrees below zero.  However, the reality is that no one knows exactly what the impact of a warmer planet will be.

Global warming has got nothing to do with carbon dioxide emissions

First of all, Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is not bad: in fact we couldn't live without it! Carbon Dioxide is one of the gases in the atmosphere which trap the sun’s energy and keep the surface of the Earth warm ( known as the Greenhouse effect).  Without these gases to trap the sun’s energy, the heat from the sun would go back into space and the planet would be permanently frozen.  

Most accept that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have risen  dramatically  since the Industrial Revolution, but how far global warming is linked to that increase is still a matter of debate.  Some believe that changes in global temperatures happen in cycles and are a natural phenomenon.  However, there is a growing consensus amongst scientists that the high carbon dioxide emissions over the past two centuries have led to a greater warming of the Earth’s surface than would have occurred naturally.

There’s nothing we can do to stop global warming

Global warming is already happening, so it is too late to think about stopping it altogether.  However,  some  scientists think that although the situation is  serious,  we can still make a difference to global warming, and stop it becoming worse - but only if all the countries in the world are prepared to take action, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions as a matter of urgency.  This is why the conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 was considered so important.  Unfortunately, the conference ended without any agreements, leaving scientists and others concerned about climate change in despair.