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Climate Change

The greenhouse effect is the rise in temperature that the Earth experiences because gases in the atmosphere (e.g. water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane) known as Greenhouse Gases (GHG) trap energy from the sun. The natural greenhouse effect has been enhanced since the industrial revolution due to the increase in manmade GHG emissions. This enhanced greenhouse effect has been linked to an increase in average global temperatures (global warming) and other variations in climate (climate change) that have been observed over the past 100 years. The main man-made GHG is carbon dioxide (CO2) which is produced by the combustion of fossil fuels (oil, petrol, natural gas). The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a group of leading climate scientists, has conducted studies on the causes of climate change, ways to reduce it and the likely impacts on different regions in the next 100 years. The cost benefits of early action to mitigate against climate change was highlighted in a UK Government report by economist Sir Nicholas Stern in 2006 (The Stern Review). According to the UK Green Building Council, buildings account for around 50% of the UK's total GHG emissions, with the production of materials accounting for a further 10%.

Planning Policy Guidance 25 (Development and Flood Risk) explains how flood risk should be considered at all stages of the planning and development process. It sets out the importance of the management and reduction of flood risk in planning, acting on a precautionary basis and taking account of climate change.

Related terms:

• Carbon footprint
• Carbon Neutral
• Carbon Offsetting
• Climate Change Levy
• Combined Heat & Power (CHP)
• Embodied energy
• Emissions trading
• Energy efficiency
• Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
• Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations
• Micro-generation
• Renewable Energy