1. What is climate change?
Climate change is a change in global or regional climate patterns, caused by the burning of
fossil fuels. Climate is different from weather since weather is the short-term conditions in the
atmosphere while climate is the weather in the region for an extended period of time.
2. Compare Earth’s climate with another planet in the solar system. Explain why they have
different temperatures.
The climate in Venus is completely different than the climate of this planet. For example, the
atmosphere in Earth is made up with 95% nitrogen and oxygen and 5% greenhouse gases.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere of Venus is made up almost completely of carbon dioxide gas, with
it making up 96% of the atmosphere. The composition of the gases in the atmosphere can
change the climate of a planet. Earth’s climate is cooler than Venus since there is a very small
amount of greenhouses. Venus’ climate, meanwhile, is extremely hot due to it being close to the
sun, along with having lots of greenhouse gases, which absorbs heat and sunlight, heating the
planet. That makes Venus hotter than Mercury, which is closer to the sun.
3.
5. What is the Montreal Protocol
An international treaty signed in 1987 which is called the Montreal Protocol on Substances that
Deplete the Ozone Layer. The goal of the treaty was to protect Earth’s Stratospheric layer by
Under the Protocol, nations phased out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) – a class of compounds
that were used mostly in aerosol sprays, refrigerants, foams and as solvents, and were
damaging the protective ozone layer that shields the planet from harmful ultraviolet radiation.
Recent evidence shows that the ozone hole over Antarctica is beginning to repair itself because
of efforts under the Protocol to reduce ozone-depleting substances.
Because ozone-depleting substances and many of their substitutes are also potent
greenhouse gases, their phase-out under the Montreal Protocol is critical to
international efforts to address climate change.
Because HFCs have a relatively short atmospheric lifetime (compared to carbon
dioxide), their phasedown could reduce temperature changes in 2100 by an estimated
0.5 degrees Celsius. These reductions are critical to meeting the long-term goal of the
Paris Agreement to keep warming well below 2 degrees.
The Protocol had the incidental effect of increasing the use of
hydrofluorocarbons as substitutes. HFCs have become the fastest growing
source of greenhouse gas emissions, increasing at between 10 and 15 per
cent annually. CFCs and HFCs are extraordinarily potent greenhouse gases,
thousands of times more damaging than carbon dioxide.
The Montreal Protocol stipulates that the production and consumption of
compounds that deplete ozone in the stratosphere--chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs), halons, carbon tetrachloride, and methyl chloroform--are to be
phased out by 2000 (2005 for methyl chloroform).
legally enforces the phase-out of the production and use of ozone depleting substances -
chemicals often used in refrigeration, air-conditioning, foam manufacturing, aerosol
production, and fire extinguishing.
that regulates the production and consumption of nearly 100 manmade chemicals referred
to as ozone depleting substances (ODS). When released to the atmosphere, those
chemicals damage the stratospheric ozone layer, Earth’s protective shield that protects
humans and the environment from harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
Another group of substances, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), were introduced as non-ozone depleting
alternatives to support the timely phase out of CFCs and HCFCs. HFCs are now widespread in air
conditioners, refrigerators, aerosols, foams and other products. While these chemicals do not deplete the
stratospheric ozone layer, some of them have high GWPs ranging from 12 to 14,000. Overall HFC
emissions are growing at a rate of 8% per year and annual emissions are projected to rise to 7-19% of
global CO2 emissions by 2050. Uncontrolled growth in HFC emissions therefore challenges efforts to
keep global temperature rise at or below 2°C this century. Urgent action on HFCs is needed to protect the
climate system.
