Lesson video

Hi geographers.

My name's Ms. Hoggett, and I'm really excited you're here to learn some geography with me today.

I'm sure if you try your best, you're going to be absolutely fantastic.

Don't worry too much if you haven't studied this topic before.

I'm here to help you every step of the way.

So the title for today's lesson is Actions to Tackle Climate Change, and this sits within the unit Weather and Climate, How do they vary? Our learning outcome for today's lesson is that I can describe how we can mitigate against and adapt to climate change.

To help us through this lesson today, we have a number of keywords that are going to be really useful for us.

Carbon footprint, adaptation, sustainable and mitigation.

A carbon footprint is a number representing the total number of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases that an individual, product, person, or country produces.

Adaptation is about making changes to suit different conditions.

Sustainable, if something is sustainable, it is able to carry on over a long time.

And mitigation actions taken to reduce or prevent something.

So our key words for today, carbon footprint, adaptation, sustainable and mitigation are really going to help us in today's lesson.

This lesson is split into three learning cycles.

How can we measure our impact on the planet? How can we mitigate against climate change and how can we adapt to climate change? And we're going to start with our first learning cycle now.

How can we measure our impact on the planet? Every decision we make has an impact on the environment.

This can be anything from what we eat to how we travel.

Scientists have developed tools to help us measure the impact we have on the planet.

One of these tools is called a carbon footprint.

A carbon footprint is a number often measured in tonnes, kilogrammes, or grammes.

It represents the total number of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases that an individual, product, person or country produces.

So we all have our own carbon footprint.

Let's check your understanding of the learning so far.

Which of these is not a unit of measurement used to measure a carbon footprint? A, tonnes, B, millilitres, or C, grammes? Pause the video and have a go at answering this question.

Well done if you said B, millilitres.

Tonnes and grammes are both ways that we can measure carbon footprint.

Now, calculating our carbon footprint is really important as it helps us to understand the impact that we are having on the planet.

The larger the carbon footprint, the more greenhouse gases are released and the larger the impact this has on climate change.

The foods we consume add different amounts to our carbon footprint.

You can see on the screen here that one serving a pasta released 75 grammes of CO2 into the atmosphere.

One dairy latte is 350 grammes of CO2 and one potato is 40 grammes of CO2.

Now, I don't know about you, but I think I normally eat more than that in a day.

So we can see that we are having a significant impact with just our meals when we are looking at our carbon footprint.

So let's check our understanding.

Which of the following modes of transport would contribute most to your carbon footprint? Would it be A, walk, B, public transport, or C, car? And this is based on a typical 2.

5 kilometre or 1.

55 mile journey.

Well done if you said car.

If we were looking at public transport, then lots of people are sharing one vehicle, which means it's going to be lower.

But car you're generally travelling individually or in small groups.

So the amount of carbon dioxide being released per person is higher.

Now, if something is sustainable, it's able to carry on over a long time.

Therefore a smaller carbon footprint is going to be more sustainable.

We want to try and live more sustainably because that can help us to tackle climate change.

Each government tries to do this by setting their own targets to reduce their carbon footprint as not every country releases the same amount of CO2.

If they did, we'd all have the same targets, but that's why we all have to have different.

So countries in Asia and North America produce the most carbon dioxide, whereas countries in Africa only produce about three to 4% of global carbon dioxide emissions.

And therefore it'd be unfair for countries in those continents to have the same targets for reducing CO2.

We are now going to have a go at practising what we've learned so far and considering your own carbon footprint.

So I'd like you to take the quiz to determine your carbon footprint.

We'll read through the questions together.

What is your main mode of transport? A, walking or cycling.

B, public transport.

C, Petrol or diesel car.

D, Flying.

How do you stay warm at home? A I wear extra layers.

B, I put the heating on low.

C, the heating is on, or D, we have an open fire.

How do you use electricity at home? A, I turn off lights and appliances when not in use.

B, I sometimes forget, but I do try to be mindful.

C, I leave things on standby often.

D, I use a lot of different appliances at once.

How do you shop for clothes? A, I buy secondhand or upcycle.

B, I buy new clothes and make them last.

C, I buy new clothes frequently, or D, I buy fast fashion regularly.

How often do you eat meat? A, never, I'm vegetarian or vegan.

B, once or twice a week.

C, most days, or D, every meal.

How do you dispose of waste? A, I recycle and compost everything.

B, I recycle but I don't compost.

C, I throw away most things and occasionally recycle.

D, I don't recycle at all.

How do you use water? A, I take short showers and conserve water.

B, I try to be mindful, but sometimes waste water.

C, I take long showers and leave taps running.

D, I use water without considering my impact.

How often do you travel long distances? A, rarely, I mostly stay local.

B, occasionally I go for holidays or family visits.

C, frequently by car or train, or D, regularly by aeroplane.

Pause the video and have a go at reflecting on your answers.

Well done for completing that quiz.

Let's see what it tells us about your carbon footprint.

So what letter did you mostly get? I'd like you to compare that to the size of your carbon footprint and the smaller your carbon footprint, the more sustainable your actions are.

So if you put mostly A, then you have a really sustainable and small carbon footprint.

It gets bigger if it was B, bigger again if it was C, and if it was mostly D, you know that you have quite a large carbon footprint and you are not living as sustainably as possible.

Well done for completing learning cycle one.

We are now ready to move on to learning cycle number two, How can we mitigate against climate change? So mitigation strategies are the actions taken to reduce or prevent the effects of climate change.

Scientists, governments, and individuals can all help mitigate against climate change.

It's something that we can all do and we can work together on.

True or false? Mitigation strategies are the actions taken to adapt to the effects of climate change.

Pause the video and have a go answering this question.

Well done if you said false.

We now know that mitigation strategies are the actions taken to reduce or prevent the effects of climate change.

So it's the preventative rather than the adaptation which comes after.

So we've got another quick check for understanding.

Who can help mitigate against climate change? Is it A, scientists, B, governments, C, individuals, or D, all of the above.

Pause the video and have a go at answering this question.

Well done if you said all of the above.

We know that mitigation is something that we can all achieve if we work together.

Now there are three key strategies for mitigation, planting trees, international agreements, and renewable energy.

We are going to go through these one by one to understand them a little bit more.

So trees absorb carbon dioxide, CO2, and planting trees helps remove more CO2 from the atmosphere reducing the negative impacts of the greenhouse effect.

Now we know that across the world people are trying to plant more trees all the time, and this is because it plays such an important part in mitigating against climate change.

Our second strategy is international agreements and this is where countries work together to help us meet global targets quicker.

Now, we've already said that every country has their own targets, but they're all working towards the shared goal, which is to mitigate against climate change.

And this was discussed in 2015 where 195 countries met in Paris to sign something that we call the Paris Agreement.

This agreement was aimed at limiting global warming to less than two degrees Celsius globally, ideally 1.

5 degrees Celsius by 2030.

So the targets that countries are putting in place are to meet this shared goal of reducing global warming to less than two degrees Celsius a year by 2030.

And finally, we can look at renewable energy sources because by using renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, we are reducing our dependence on fossil fuels like coal and oil.

Burning fossil fuels contributes a lot of CO2 to the atmosphere and so we know that is adding to climate change.

So if we look at more sustainable strategies and renewable energy such as solar power, hydroelectric power and wind power, we know that we are working to mitigate against climate change.

Let's check your understanding.

Which of the below are not a strategy to mitigate against climate change? Is it A, international agreements, B, planting trees, C, growing drought resistant crops, or D, using renewable energy sources? Pause the video and have a go answering this question.

Well done if you said C, growing drought resistant crops.

We've just discussed that international agreements, planting trees and using renewable energy sources are all strategies to help mitigate against climate change.

Good work geographers.

Let's practise what we've learned so far in this learning cycle.

So Lucas and Laura have written pledges of things they will do to mitigate against climate change.

Laura says, "I pledge to plant three trees in the next year." Well done Laura, that's great.

And Lucas says, "I'm going to learn more about the Paris agreement so that I can educate others!" And that's fantastic because it's sharing that common goal.

So I'd like you to write a pledge for one thing you are doing mitigate against climate change.

Pause the video and have a go at writing your pledge.

Well done for giving that a really good go.

Now there's lots and lots of things you could have pledged to do here, but here are some examples of what your answer may have in included.

I pledge to recycle more to reduce waste, to cut down on carbon emissions created from landfill.

I will switch off lights and appliances when not in use to save energy and reduce my carbon footprint.

And I pledge to walk whenever possible or use public transport to reduce carbon emissions from vehicles.

So if you had anything similar to that, you've done a fantastic job, but you might have had other things too.

And that's also great.

Well done geographers.

You've done fantastically.

And we've now reached the end of learning cycle two.

We're now ready to move on to learning cycle number three.

How can we adapt to climate change? So adaptation involves making changes to suit different conditions.

And in this context, the different conditions are the change in climate.

So how can we make changes in our actions and our behaviour to suit the new climate that we're experiencing? Sam says, "Some places are facing more droughts, stronger storms, or rising sea levels." And Izzy says, "So we need to think about how we can adapt to the impact of these!" Let's check your understanding of that.

So add in the missing word to Andeep's sentence.

What involves making changes to suit different conditions? Pause the video and think about the word that needs to go in that gap.

Well done if you said adaptation.

As Andeep correctly says, adaptation involves making changes to suit different conditions.

Now there are different strategies for adaptation in the same way that there was for mitigation, but this time we are looking at growing drought resistant crops, building flood defences and managing water sources.

The changing climate means that farmers in the UK may have to change what crops they grow on their farms. Now vineyards are becoming more common in the UK, because the warmer climate means we now have temperatures warm enough to grow grapes.

This isn't something that we experienced before.

So that's a strategy that we can put in place to adapt to climate change.

Likewise, to help increase water sources in areas prone to drought, people may collect rain water and store it.

This can be done individually as well as on much larger scales.

Now the velodrome of the London Olympic Park is designed to harvest rainwater.

You might have a water butt in your garden which collects rainwater and stores it.

And lastly, being an island nation, the UK is particularly vulnerable to flooding caused by rising sea levels.

At Dawlish Warren, in Devon, thousands of pounds have been spent on sea defences to protect the landscape from erosion.

And you can see that in the image there.

Let's check your understanding.

Which of the below are not a strategy to adapt to climate change? Is it A, international agreements, B, managing water sources, C, growing drought resistant crops, or D, building flood defences? Pause the video and have a go answering that question.

Well done if you said a international agreements, we discussed earlier that international agreements are an example of mitigation.

But as we've just seen, managing water sources, growing drought resistant crops, and building flood defences are all examples of ways we can adapt to climate change.

Now it's important that we actually do use adaptation and mitigation strategies together to respond to climate change.

This is important because mitigation actually slows down climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

And without mitigation, carbon dioxide levels will continue to rise.

But adaptation ensures that communities can cope with the impacts of climate change that are already happening.

So we need to take that mitigation and that adaptation together in order to have that best response.

So we're going to practise what we've learned so far, and I'd like you to firstly complete the table explaining why each method for adaptation is important.

So you can see there you've got your adaptation strategy such as growing drought resistant crops, building flood defences, and managing water sources.

And then you have a space for explanation.

And the second part of this practise task is to explain why we should consider adaptation and mitigation strategies when trying to tackle climate change.

Pause the video and have a go at completing this practise task.

Well done for giving that a really good go, geographers.

You've done fantastically today.

Let's check your answers and see what your table may have looked like.

So the adaptation strategy of growing drought resistant crops can be explained by saying it ensures food supplies are maintained in regions affected by climate change as it reduces the risk of crop failure.

Building flood defences, we could say it protects communities and ecosystems from damage caused by floods, reducing costs, and preventing loss of life.

And then lastly, for managing water sources, we could have said that it helps maintain a stable water supply for drinking, farming, and industry, ensuring long-term sustainability of water supplies.

Well done if you've got that one spot on.

For part two, which was explain why we should consider adaptation and mitigation strategies when trying to tackle climate change, we could have said we should consider both adaptation and mitigation strategies when tackling climate change because they help us deal with it its effects in different ways.

Mitigation focuses on reducing the causes of climate change like cutting down greenhouse gas emissions by using renewable energy or planting more trees.

This helps slow down global warming.

Adaptation is about making changes to cope with the effects of climate change like building flood defences or growing drought resistant crops.

This is important because some of the effects of climate change are already happening, so we need to be prepared.

Using both strategies together gives us the best chance of protecting people, the environment and the economy.

So it is important and as we can see from this answer that we consider our response and use both adaptation and mitigation strategies when trying to tackle climate change.

Well done geographers, you've done brilliantly today.

So to summarise our lesson on actions to tackle climate change, we've got that we can use carbon footprints to measure our impact on the planet.

Living more sustainably can help tackle climate change.

We can mitigate against climate change by planting trees, international agreements and using alternative energy.

And adaptation to climate change includes adapting agriculture, considering water supply, and protecting the land from erosion.

Geographers, you've been absolutely fantastic today and you've done a brilliant job.

I look forward to seeing you in our next lesson, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.