Hello there and welcome to today's geography lesson with me, Ms. Roberts.

This lesson comes from our unit of work which is all about our coasts.

We're investigating what happens at the coast where the land meets the sea.

This lesson focuses on what the future of our coastlines might look like.

By the end of the lesson today, you're going to be able to talk about something called climate change.

Don't worry if you're not sure what that is now.

I'm going to explain things in a moment.

You're going to be able to discuss the impacts of climate change and explain what we can do to try and protect the coast.

There are some keywords that are going to be very useful to you into today's lesson.

Let's begin by looking at those keywords now.

The first keyword that I have chosen for today is a type of gas.

This is a natural gas called carbon dioxide.

In fact, this is one of the greenhouse gases.

It occurs naturally in Earth's atmosphere and the job that it does is to trap heat.

Next, we have fossil fuels, which you might have heard of before.

Fossil fuels are natural substances.

They were formed millions and millions of years ago, and they are made from the remains of very ancient organisms. Over a huge amount of time, those remains have changed due to a lot of different natural processes, and they have become coal or oil or natural gas.

They are the three fossil fuels.

Next, we have a type of energy called renewable energy.

Renewable energy sources are those that can be reused over and over and over again, so they are never going to run out if they are renewable.

Next is an adjective which is sustainable.

We can describe something as sustainable if it's able to continue going or doing what it's doing over a long period of time, then it is sustainable.

And finally, we have atmosphere.

The atmosphere is all around us.

It's the layer of gas that surrounds us on Earth.

There are lots of different gases in the atmosphere.

We have already heard about carbon dioxide.

The atmosphere also includes oxygen, which is essential for us humans because we need to breathe oxygen.

There are two sections for the lesson today.

First, we are going to look at what climate change is and how it affects the coast.

Then later, we'll move on to thinking about how we can protect our coasts from the impacts of climate change.

Let's begin then and make a start by thinking about what climate change actually is.

What is happening on our planet? Take a look at this diagram.

This diagram is an illustration of something called the greenhouse effect.

Now, this is actually a natural process.

What happens is the sun shines brightly and those rays from the sun travel down to Earth and are naturally trapped within our atmosphere by the greenhouse gases.

This is what helps to keep us warm.

It's what makes sure that we don't freeze.

It has to occur naturally in order to sustain life here on Earth.

So as we have said, this is a natural process, the greenhouse effect.

But why is it becoming a problem? It's becoming a problem because human activities are changing the balance of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Human activities are, in fact, increasing the amounts of these natural gases that are found in the atmosphere.

It is agreed by scientists that this is the main cause of something that we call global warming.

That means that planet Earth is getting warmer.

An increase in greenhouse gases directly corresponds to an increase in global temperatures.

This increase in global temperatures is the cause of what we call climate change.

So what are the human activities that have been causing all the problems? Every day, we burn fossil fuels.

Coal, oil, and gas are used for energy on planet Earth.

They're used to power our cars, to power factories, to provide electricity to our homes.

Fossil fuels are among the most wildly used sources of energy on Earth.

When we burn fossil fuels, they release carbon dioxide.

The amount of carbon dioxide released by the fossil fuels adds onto the amount of carbon dioxide naturally in the atmosphere, so there is more carbon dioxide than there ordinarily would be in our atmosphere.

Now, one of the ways that planet Earth helps to keep a balance of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is that trees, especially huge forests like Amazon, like the rainforest, they're very good at absorbing carbon dioxide.

So in some cases, we could say that trees can balance out the carbon dioxide because they will take it away.

Unfortunately, that's not happening and that's because of something called deforestation.

That's where large amounts of trees are cut down in places like the Amazon as well as in other forests all around the Earth.

So at the same time, as we are pumping more and more carbon dioxide into our atmosphere, we are also cutting down more and more trees, so we are reducing the amount of carbon dioxide that is naturally being removed from the atmosphere as well.

Both of these issues contribute to global warming.

The graph image here shows how throughout history, global temperatures have remained within a fairly small range, but since the Industrial Revolution and into modern day, the global temperature has risen.

Let's pause here for a check for our understanding so far on what we know about climate change.

I would like you to identify from these options, which of them are causes of an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? Be careful to read all the options.

There could be more than one correct answer.

Make your choice now.

Ready? Okay, here are the answers.

Burning fossil fuels absolutely contributes more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, and deforestation also means that we don't have those trees there to take away the carbon dioxide, which means we have more carbon in the atmosphere.

Well done.

So what impact does this rise in global temperatures have? It has lots of impacts on our coastlines and our seas.

That's what we're thinking about particularly in this lesson.

The temperature of the water itself is increasing.

At the poles of planet Earth, because of the increase in global temperature, the ice is melting all.

All around the Earth, because of increased temperatures in our oceans and melting ice at the pole and the knock on effects that happen, weather is changing and extreme weather conditions are becoming more and more frequent.

We are already seeing lots of these changes happening.

In the UK, the year 2022 was the warmest year on record.

In July of that year, temperatures in the UK exceeded 40 degrees Celsius for the first time ever.

Time now for another quick check for understanding on all that information.

I would like you to identify which of these options are the main effects of climate change.

Be careful.

Again, there could be more than one option.

Pause the video now and make your choice.

Done? Excellent.

Okay, so firstly, global temperatures are increasing.

That's absolutely one of the main effects.

We are also experiencing a lot more extreme weather, and the ice at the poles is melting because of the increased global temperatures.

Let's look into some of these effects in more detail, starting with thinking about the increased temperatures of our ocean waters.

Within the last 20 years or so, the rate at which the ocean is warming has doubled.

Global ocean temperatures have already increased by more than a degree and a half.

This is changing causes to ecosystems within the ocean, within our marine environments.

Animals and plants that live in the oceans can't adapt quickly enough to these changes in their environment.

This warming of the sea temperatures causes plant and animal species to begin to die out.

For example, look at the coral reef here in this picture.

The white coral is coral that is stressed because of the changing temperature.

And when it loses its beautiful vibrant colour, we call this coral bleaching.

Without corals, lots of other sea creatures would lose their habitats.

And as a loss of habitat occurs, so does a loss of food.

It is estimated that should the ocean temperatures continue to rise by two degrees, then up to 99% of all the coral reefs on Earth could be lost.

Let's check our understanding of how climate change is affecting coral reefs.

Were you listening to the statistical information you just heard? Can you remember what percentage of coral reefs are going to be lost if sea temperatures warm by two degrees? Pause the video now and make your choice.

Ready? It's not 50%.

It's not 80%.

It is as much as 99% of our coral reefs that are potentially in danger thanks to global ocean temperatures rising.

Another impact of climate change on our seas is that the sea level itself is rising.

This happens mainly because of two reasons.

Firstly, we have actual expansion of the water itself.

And secondly, we have the melting ice at the poles, which we mentioned before.

As water heats up, it expands.

You may know from science that water can be found as a solid, a liquid, and a gas.

The hotter water gets, the closer it becomes to turning into a gas, and that is what's causing the water to physically expand.

Warmer waters along with warmer air leads to melting ice.

This happens mostly at the poles on Earth, but it's happening frequently in all countries that have cold regions.

When ice on the land melts, glaciers or ice sheets in places like Greenland or Antarctica, all that water, that melt water from those ice sheets simply runs off into the sea, causing a dramatic rise locally in the sea level, which then has a bigger impact on the wider ocean level.

It's believed that the sea levels have risen by around nine centimetres in the past 30 years.

This means that some coastal areas are at direct risk.

They are seriously under threat from flooding because of climate change.

Some places on Earth could soon be lost forever under the rising sea.

It is known that one in six people are already at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, and these risks will only continue to increase as the sea levels rise.

Let's have a look now at some maps.

This is of an area in the UK called Haisborough, which is on the coast in north of Norfolk.

This is a place that is experiencing rapid change at the coast.

The first map shows Haisborough as it is today.

The map next to it shows what could happen if the sea levels were to rise by one metre.

The blue area is all of the area that will be flooded if that sea level rise happens.

Then as you look over the rest of the maps, we can see what will happen if the sea rises by two metres, by three metres, by four metres, or even by five metres.

You can see a very drastic change there as how much land is flooded greatly increases with every metre that the sea level rises.

Scientists have predicted that if we do not reduce our carbon emissions significantly, and if we continue to allow climate change to happen as it is now, then sea levels will rise by at least 2.

2 metres in the next 70 to 80 years.

What happens then with this increased risk of flooding? What are the impacts that we need to consider? Rising sea level present dangers not only to people, but to plants and animals that live in coastal areas.

They may experience more and more frequent flooding.

Their land, including farmland where crops are grown, can be contaminated.

And sea water is salty, which can kill plants.

It's not healthy for them to be exposed to.

And sometimes lands can even be completely submerged and even lost.

We already know that many settlements are located at the coast.

In fact, eight out of 10 of the largest cities in the world are found in coastal areas, places including Mumbai, Shanghai, and New York.

These are some of the biggest settlements that contain the most people, but they are also some of the most vulnerable to climate change.

Let's have a quick check on our understanding about rising sea levels.

What causes rising sea levels? Pause the video and make your choice.

Ready? As water heats up, it expands and the ice on our land is melting.

Those two things together contribute to the rising sea levels.

We have also said that climate change is going to bring about the occurrence of more extreme weather conditions.

Now, what extreme weather conditions are we talking about here? We are talking about storms, hurricanes, for example.

Although it's much harder to predict, it is expected that as a result of the increased temperature in the oceans, which leads to increased amount of energy, there is going to be an increase in the amount of extreme weather that occurs on planet Earth.

This leads to an increase in rates of erosion of our coastline and a much higher risk of coastal flooding, especially in areas that are undefended or poorly protected.

Take a look at this picture here.

In March of 2023, some very high tides and strong winds caused a lot of coastal erosion in an area of the UK called Hemsby, which is in Norfolk.

Several properties there that were very close and vulnerable to collapsing into the sea have had to now be demolished by the council.

An access road in the area also collapsed into the sea, so there are impacts on the transport infrastructure in that area as well.

Coastal erosion can cause damage like this to homes, to businesses, to roads.

Extreme storm events that are happening more often can have very similar impacts on coastal communities.

Time for another check for understanding now about this issue.

There is a paragraph here, but there are some words missing.

Given everything you now know about coastal impacts, I would like you to complete the paragraph.

Pause the video now and then when you come back, I'll be sharing the answers with you.

All done? Excellent.

Okay, let's have a look at the answers together.

An increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap more heat which changes our climate.

Climate change is affecting our coasts by increasing global temperatures, raising sea levels and causing more extreme weather events.

Did you get those words as well? Well done if you did.

Let's have a go now at Task A for this lesson.

This is a cause and effect diagram.

We have causes in the first column and impacts in the second column.

I have completed the first one for you which describes the impact of increased global ocean temperatures.

I have said that the impact is that warmer seas mean that animals and plants can't adapt and that coral reefs are dying.

I would like you to complete the table by adding some of the impacts for rising sea levels and for extreme weather events.

Pause the video while you do this.

And don't forget, you may always work with a geography buddy for extra support.

Ready? Good job.

Okay, I'm going to share the answers here with you now.

We've already seen my answer for increased temperatures.

for rising sea level, my notes included that some of the impacts are frequent flooding, contamination of land, crops, and drinking water from the salty sea water, and some land could be completely submerged.

For extreme weather events, I made a note about an increase in coastal erosion and flooding.

Did you have some of those ideas as well? Good job.

Now let's move into the second half of this lesson and we're going to think about how we can protect our coast from climate change.

We've seen the ways that climate change damages our coasts, so let's see what we can do about it.

Did you know that the ocean actually plays a very important role in the global carbon cycle? So the carbon dioxide that we were talking about that's in our atmosphere, the cycle that that goes through as it travels around planet Earth, our ocean is part of it, and that's because the ocean is responsible for capturing and storing about 25% of the carbon dioxide that we release into our atmosphere.

Trapping and storing carbon dioxide in places like the oceans reduces the amount of greenhouse gases that remain in the atmosphere, and this helps to reduce the effect of climate change.

There are also other marine ecosystems like the salt marsh you can see in this photo.

Marine ecosystems like salt marshes, seagrass meadows, and mangroves, for example, mangrove forests, they can also absorb or draw down some carbon dioxide from the water and the atmosphere just in the same ways that plants and trees on land do.

When carbon dioxide is stored within marine habitats, we actually call it blue carbon.

Isn't that an interesting fact? The picture here shows a very tangled mass of roots of some special marine trees called mangroves.

Mangroves grow in forests that are marine forests because they are coastal.

We have also mentioned that seagrass plains and salt marshes are other places where lots of carbon can be stored.

They actually absorb up to five times more carbon than the forest that we have on land absorb.

So these kind of marine ecosystems are really important in helping humans to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.

Sadly, here in the UK, we have already destroyed 90% of our seagrass beds.

These important plants and places like the one you can see in the photograph were once very common all around the shore of the UK.

They can absorb carbon faster than the rainforests.

It is really important for the future that we can protect our coasts and protect areas like these.

Let's have a check for our understanding now.

Were you listening carefully? Can you tell me what we call carbon that is being stored in marine habitats like mangrove forests? Pause the video now and make your choice.

Ready? Good job.

Did you choose C? Well done, yes.

Blue carbon is the type of carbon that is being absorbed and stored within plants in marine ecosystems. Well done.

So what are some of the things that we can do then to protect our coasts from climate change? There are four main ways to approach this.

Let's look at these ideas.

We can rewild our seabed.

We can use more sustainable energy and technologies at the coast.

We can create more marine protected areas.

And we can educate people about how important our coastal environments are.

Let's look more closely at each idea.

Firstly, rewilding our seabeds.

Rewilding is a process.

It means to restore a place.

In this case, to restore the habitats at the coast back to the way that they naturally once were, and this will allow nature then to take care of itself.

So to protect our coast from the impact of climate change, we could rewild large patches of our seabeds, and this would help to protect and restore those marine ecosystems and habitats, which would in turn increase wildlife populations.

And in turn, as those ecosystems grow, it would increase the ocean's ability to lock away millions more tonnes of blue carbon.

The next idea is about using more sustainable energy.

Sustainable energy is energy that is renewable.

It comes from a source that can be used over and over again.

It won't deplete or run out.

Investing in more sustainable energy sources is a very important way that we can help combat climate change because it helps us to reduce our use of fossil fuels.

For example, fisheries that are less reliant on fossil fuels and don't overfish or damage the seabed, or by switching to renewable energy like offshore wind turbines as you can see in the photograph.

Anything which reduces human reliance on fossil fuels will help to reduce climate change, and that's not just on the coast either.

All the ways we know that we can produce sustainable energy and save energy wherever we are, however we can do it, will all help to combat climate change.

The climate is a global system.

Everyone everywhere is interlinked, and therefore, even the smallest local activities can have huge impacts elsewhere.

And whatever happens elsewhere can always have a local impact on you.

So use of technology and more sustainable energy is a huge way to help protect our coasts from climate change.

The third idea was about creating more marine protected areas.

Marine protected areas are essentially like an underwater national park.

There are lots of rules and regulations in place about how people interact with that environment, and this offers a more long-term solution in helping marine ecosystems to grow, thrive, and survive.

In this way, salt marshes, seagrasses, mangroves, kelp, seaweed, all of these things can grow in the future.

The marine protected area in this photo is an area called Crescent Bay, which is found in the United States.

Here in the UK, there are 371 marine protected areas at the moment, and that covers just about 38% of our UK seas.

Can you imagine how well protected we would be if there were more marine protected areas? The fourth idea was about education.

It's really important that people understand how important coastal environments are.

If we all understand the crucial role that the coast plays in helping us fight climate change, then maybe people would be more careful about how they treat the coast.

Let's stop now and check our understanding about those ideas of what we can do to protect the coast.

Which of these would help to protect the coast from climate change? Pause the video and make your choice.

Ready? Excellent.

Did you choose rewilding seabeds, option B? Good job.

Is that the only correct answer in this case, or is there something else? Option C as well, use renewable or sustainable energy.

Both of those options are things that we can do to help protect our coasts from climate change.

Now it's time for a creative imaginative activity to end this lesson today.

Task B is about creating a poster.

I would like you to make a poster to display, which helps to show how important the coast is and what we can do to protect it from climate change.

You could include visuals like maps or photos, or you could rely on your own personal experiences of the coast to help you to create your collage or poster.

When you finished your poster, why not share it with a partner or in a small group and explain the creative choices you have made.

Pause the video now to complete this activity.

And when you come back, I will share some of the ideas that the Oak Academy children have had.

All done? Lovely.

Did you share your posters with your group and explain your choices? I'm sure your posters are going to look great on display.

Let's hear some ideas that the Oak Academy children had about their posters now.

Andeep used a map to show where the nearest coast is to him.

He annotated it to show the places that he likes.

Sam decided to use lots of photographs of human and physical features on her poster, and Alex wrote four bullet points about things that he could do to protect the coast from the impact of climate change.

Well done, everyone, and well on you for listening so well to lots of scientific information about climate change and for completing some excellent work today.

Let's have a summary of everything we now know about the effect that climate change is having on our coasts.

We know that the increased levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are there as a result of human activity, and this is causing rapid climate change.

Rapid climate change is a problem.

It's a problem because people and animals can't adapt quickly enough to survive in the new climates.

Sea levels rising is one example of a change caused by increased temperatures on Earth.

It's causing the ice caps to melt and the water to expand.

The increased energy in the atmosphere and in the oceans also increases the risk of extreme weather conditions occurring on Earth.

I hope you enjoyed finding out about how coasts are at risk from climate change today, and I look forward to seeing you again for another geography lesson.

Bye for now.