Topic 2: Climate and Change
How and why has climate changed in the past?
Key Ideas
Climate has changed in the past through natural
causes, on timescales ranging from millions to
hundreds of years.
Content
Examine past climate changes on different
timescales, eg ice ages in the Quaternary and UK
climate since Roman times.
Explore the natural causes of climate change
including asteroid collisions, orbital changes, volcanic
activity and solar output.
Natural climate change in the past has affected
people and ecosystems.
Examine the impact of a short-term, historical event
such as the Little Ice Age on people and the
enviornment.
Considering the impact of major changes in geological
time, eg the extinction of megafauna at the end of
the last ice age.
What you need to understand
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Understand the temperature of the earth’s
atmosphere has changed over time.
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100 million years ago at the time of the
dinosaurs the temperature was much
warmer.
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The Pleistocene, the last major cold period,
or ice age, started 1.8 million years ago and
ended 10,000 year ago.
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To know the ‘Little Ice Age’ is a much more
recent event (a few hundred years ago)
when the atmosphere became cold during
1500 – 1800’s.
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Know that there are 4 natural causes of
climate change: asteroid collisions, orbital
changes, solar output and volcanic activity.

Be able to explain how each effects the
climate and why.

Learn the impacts of the little ice age on
people e.g. death of Napoleon’s troops, ice
fairs.
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Learn impacts on farming e.g. short growing
season, impact on winemaking.

To understand why megafauna like the
Woolly Mammoth became extinct at the end
of the last Pleistocene Ice Age.
What challenges might our future climate present us with?
The climate of the UK appears to be changing as a
Investigate the climate of the UK today, including
result of global changes caused by human activity.
temperature, rainfall and seasonality, and consider
why they might change in the future, including
reference to ocean currents and air masses.
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Considering the role of human activities in producing
carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and how
they lead to the enhanced greenhouse effect.
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Future climates are likely to present major
challenges, to the UK and especially to people in the
developing world.
Consider a range of projections for global
temperature change and sea level rise, including
reasons for uncertainty.
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Examine the range of possible economic and
environmental impacts of future climate change in
the UK, and in a named developing country, eg
Bangladesh.
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Be able to read a climate graph
To have a general understanding of the UK
climate
To know how the UK climate may change in
the future
To know what ocean currents are and how
they could impact climate
To know what air masses are and how they
impact climates.
Know what greenhouse gases are.
To know what activities are increasing the
amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
To know that the greenhouse effect is
natural and we would not survive on earth
without it.
To know that humans are contributing to the
enhanced greenhouse effect – this is where
human produced greenhouse gases are
trapping more heat in the earth’s
atmosphere.
To know carbon dioxide concentrations are
increasing.
To understand the impacts of this increase
on global temperatures and sea levels e.g.
below 550ppm = increase no more than 2°C,
sea level rise of 1metre. More that 550ppm
= increase of 6°C and major flooding of land
meaning billions of people will lose their
homes due to sea level rises.
To understand why it is difficult to predict
what is going to happen to climate in the
future.
Economic – wealth and business.
Environmental – land, wildlife, vegetation.
Impacts in the UK can be both positive and
negative. Learn a range of the impacts,
(could also use Greenland).
Understand the impacts on a poorer country
e.g. Bangladesh.
Understand why developing countries are
more vulnerable.