Climate change is happening and we have begun to take steps towards understanding it and its affects. Our children learn about it in school now so the number of sceptics who don't believe it is happening at all, are fewer. The research that is being done is amazing. There are different kinds of satellites in use that can measure temperature, moisture and evaporation as well as showing extreme weather conditions, clouds and drought areas. When there are extreme weather events such as cyclones and drought, animals and birds are affected too. Scientists have noticed that some just disappear from areas where they usually go and instead are found in completely different regions. When there are floods in central Australia which is usually desert, thousands of birds appear as if by magic, to breed. In part of America, extreme conditions have been linked to some species of birds disappearing from their usual homes and going to parts far away at the time of extreme weather.

For some animals, avoiding this type of event caused by climate change is much harder. Koalas for example cannot travel far and with drought and very hot conditions such as they experienced this summer, the leaves of the trees they eat, didn't contain the necessary moisture. Koalas were found drinking from swimming pools and from pet's water bowls. How will they relocate to areas where they can live as the land warms more? No doubt there are many species of animal that will become extinct. We must all take measures to limit climate change. We need to change to renewable energy as soon as possible, take more care of our natural environment, stop using plastics that cause so much damage and pollution and stop waste of all kinds.

In July a million people worldwide are pledging to make the month plastic free. Here is a link to encourage all of us to make a start.http://www.plasticfreejuly.org/ Of course this is only a start. We need to turn our communities around for good. At the moment there is more plastic in the oceans than there is plankton for sea creatures and when they eat plastic they die. We can

• Use reusable shopping bags
• stop buying water in plastic bottles
• take our own mugs for coffee
• recycle cans, glass and recyclable plastic
• avoid buying food that is wrapped in individual plastic wraps e.g. buy larger quantities of cheese in a block instead of individual slices.

Tags: climate