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On 7 July billions of people around the world will be tuning into Live Earth — a 24-hour musical extravaganza putting the spotlight on climate change, for which the Met Office is the UK’s source of climate science information. |
THE FACTS 7.7.07
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1. | The climate IS changing – globally the average temperature has risen by more than 0.7 °C over the last 100 years. |  |
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2. | The current climate change IS unusual - it is not just part of a natural cycle. |
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3. | Recent warming cannot be explained by the sun or natural factors alone. |
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4. | Recent warming is very likely to be due to man-made greenhouse gases. |
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5. | If we continue emitting greenhouse gases this warming will continue. |
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6. | Delaying action will make the problem more difficult to fix. |
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7. | It will affect EVERYONE. |
Met Office involvement
Our climate impacts expert Dr Richard Betts, based at the Met Office Hadley Centre, has been taken on by the organisers of the UK concert as their official scientific adviser.
Live Earth marks the beginning of a multi-year campaign, led by the Alliance for Climate Protection, The Climate Group and other international organisations, to drive individuals, corporations and governments to take action to solve global warming. Nine concerts are being held at various venues around the world, including London.
Richard's role has been to ensure that everyone involved with the UK part of the event has the most up-to-date, correct information to hand. During the concert Richard and Met Office Climate Change Consultant Matt Huddleston will be on hand to brief the rock acts – such as the Red Hot Chilli Peppers - and presenters, including Jonathan Ross, on every aspect of climate change.
Richard Betts and Matt Huddleston
The Met Office's objective and non-political advice on climate science aims to dispel the myths and confusion sometimes associated with climate change and global warming, and to help promote the event’s overall message – climate change is real and the world’s population must join together to tackle the crisis.
Already Richard has been asked a number of questions, such as: Is climate change real? How do we know that current climate change is caused by human behaviour and not part of a natural cycle? What impacts do we expect for the future if no action is taken to slow climate change?