Burning Up

By Author: Dave Sabri
Total Articles: 29
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Everyday almost every UK household produces carbon dioxide through energy use. Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas responsible for climate change.

To generate electricity, we burn fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) that produce greenhouse gases, in particular carbon dioxide. Cars also produce a lot of carbon dioxide, but more comes from the energy we use at home.

6 tonnes of carbon dioxide are produced by the average house each year.

The earth is getting hotter because the heat we produce is not able to effectively escape into the atmosphere. The reason for this is the blanket of carbon dioxide, combined with other gases, which has formed around our Earth. If this blanket did not exist, the Earth's average temperature would be around -18 degrees centigrade, compared with the current average of around +15 degrees centigrade.

The weather, plants, animals and our health have been and will be affected by this increase in temperature.

During the last 40 years, the UK's winters have grown warmer, with heavier bursts of rain. The summers are growing drier and hotter.

If we are not careful, ...
... the kind of heat waves which killed thousands of people across Europe in 2003 could be commonplace in Britain by the end of this century.

Britain's green and pleasant lands are under-threat. Indeed, because of the change in temperature, many of the species of animals and plants that we traditionally associate with Britain may disappear.

With a warmer climate in the UK, the numbers of people suffering from cataracts, skin cancer and even some tropical diseases may increase. In the US, mosquitoes carrying such diseases as Dengue Fever and West Nile virus have started to be recorded as a result of rising temperatures.

Don't you think it's time to change the way you live? Act now, before we all start burning up.

British Gas is the UK's greenest gas and electricity supplier, central heating provider, and energy efficiency advisor. Reduce your electricbills and carbon footprint by switching to British Gas online today.