The UK Climate Challenge
The UK weather is getting warmer and wilder. Explore how a changing climate affects the country, and the two ways of responding: cutting the cause and coping with the effects.
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A warmer, wilder UK
The UK climate is changing. It is getting warmer overall, and the weather is becoming more extreme and less predictable, with more floods, droughts and storms. This module is about those impacts and the two ways a country can respond.
Mitigation and adaptation words
Four ideas run through this topic:
What is happening?
What is happening to the UK climate?
- It is getting warmer with more extreme weather
- It is getting colder every single year
- It never changes at all
- The weather has disappeared
Two ways to respond
A country can tackle the cause or cope with the effects.
Which response?
- Building wind and solar farms
- Building higher flood defences
- Insulating homes
- Storing more water for droughts
- Mitigation that cuts carbon emissions
- Adaptation that copes with more flooding
- Mitigation that uses less energy
- Adaptation that copes with dry spells
What it means for the UK
A warmer climate brings more heatwaves and droughts, heavier rain and flooding, and stronger storms. Rising sea levels threaten low-lying coasts, and the changing seasons affect farming and wildlife. These impacts are already being felt across the country.
Impacts on the UK
Which THREE are impacts of climate change on the UK?
- More flooding
- More heatwaves
- Rising sea levels
- Colder summers every year
- The end of all weather
Cause and effect
- Heavier rainfall
- Hotter, drier summers
- Rising sea levels
- Stronger storms
- More flooding of homes and land
- Droughts and water shortages
- Flooding of low-lying coasts
- Damage to buildings and the coast
Plan the response
Put the steps of responding to climate risk in a sensible order.
- Work out the local climate risks
- Reduce emissions to slow the change
- Protect people and places from the effects
- Plan for future changes
- Review and improve the response
Complete the idea
The UK climate is getting _____, with more extreme weather. Cutting greenhouse gas _____ is called _____, which tackles the cause. Coping with the effects, such as building flood _____, is called _____. Both responses are needed.
True or not?
Tap the TWO statements that are TRUE.
- Mitigation means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to slow climate change.
- Adaptation includes building flood defences to cope with change.
- The UK climate is getting colder every single year.
- Climate change has no effect on the UK at all.
- Adaptation means increasing carbon emissions.
Spot the mitigation
Which of these is an example of mitigation?
- Switching to renewable energy
- Building a flood wall
- Storing water for a drought
- Moving homes away from the sea
Ready the town
A UK town wants to respond to climate change. Choose the best option each time.
- To cut the carbon emissions of the town, what should it do?
- The river floods more often now. How should the town adapt?
- Which pair of responses does the town really need?
Explain it
Explain how climate change affects the UK, and compare mitigation and adaptation as responses.
- Describe two impacts of climate change on the UK
- Explain what mitigation is, with an example
- Explain what adaptation is, with an example
- Explain why both responses are needed