In an ongoing series, 1News breaks down the big climate questions.
Rising Sea Levels
A graphic visualisation shows the future faced by coastal settlements as climate change takes hold, especially for those that are also suffering from subsidence. The most at risk areas will have to contend with regular flooding when extreme weather hits. Scientists have particular concerns for the future of seaside suburbs in Lower Hutt, as tectonic plate movements effectively double the rate of sea level rise.
Who produces the most greenhouse gases in NZ?
Baz Macdonald reveals the industries and companies contributing the most to climate change and asks whose responsibility it is to deal with them.
The choices we can all make to reduce our own carbon footprint
Melissa Stokes looks at how individuals can play a part by cutting the climate change-causing emissions in their lives.
Can carbon offsets cancel the damage of climate change?
Gill Higgins looks at whether buying carbon credits helps or hinders efforts to save the planet.
What is – and isn’t - working to combat climate change?
On the plus side, renewable energy creates little to no greenhouse gas emissions, and electric vehicles and public transport are climate-friendly options.
Not so positive is being unlikely to meet our 2030 target set in the Paris agreement and businesses paying their way out through the emissions trading scheme. Agriculture doesn’t have to pay at all.
Kate Nicol-Williams sets out where we’re going right and wrong.
250 years of man-made climate change
Earth is about 4.5 billion years old but the past couple of centuries – since the Industrial Revolution – have seen average global temperatures jump by 1.1C.
That means melting glaciers, rising sea levels and more extreme droughts and floods. There are things we can do to slow the effects of climate change, with the onus on government and big businesses to take the lead, as Blessen Tom explains.
Warming climate can mean wetter weather
New Zealand will see an increase in both droughts and extreme rainfall events, as well as an increase in rainfall in general for our wettest regions, such as the west coast of the South Island.
There are many factors behind this. As Ana Tovey explains, scientists believe the water cycle and the jet streams are two key ways climate change could lead to wetter weather.
Carbon trading – how it works
The idea behind the Emissions Trading Scheme is simple - you pay to cover the amount of carbon or greenhouse gases released into the environment. So a business that produces 10,000 tonnes of carbon needs to buy 10,000 carbon credits.
However, the price of those credits changes depending on how many units are up for grabs. Kaitlin Aldridge takes us through the complexities of the system and explains the drawbacks.
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