i

(2)    When the plants died.they were buried in the earth.

(3)    After millions of years.their rernains turned into coal and oil.

(4)    Peaple minę the earth for coal and oil„ which are called ‘fossil fuels."

(5)    When people bum fossil fuelSjlhey send carbon dio^ide and other greenhouse gases into the air,

8) So what's the big deal?

BMtrftfMiIttfeican turn into big things. Think about brushing your teeth. If you dofi'| ifush for one cay, chances ate nothing bad yfjftjiappen.

Hat if you don't brush your teeth ^xor one iffiSWr. you nay ceve!op a cavity. lt's the same thing with global temperatures. If temperatures rise above norm®] levcis for a few days, it's no big deal — the Earth will stay morę or less the same. But if temperatures continue to rise over a longer period of time, then the Earth may experiarałfr some problems.

Average global temperaturę bas increased by almost 1°F over the past century; scientists expedt the average global temperaturę to increase ars additional 2 to 6°F over the next one hundred years„ This may hot sound like much, but it could change the Earth's climate as never before. At the peak of the last ice age (18,000 years ago), the temperaturę was only 7°F colder than it is today, Ihd'iMflfrs covered much of North America! f.^:ven a smali fncrease in temperaturę over a long Ibi® ćhh ęhahfie th® ■HHNU When the climate changes, there may be big changes in thalhings thit people, dśipeod en* f htSSthings inciude the tani of the om and th« places Ttai we plant erop&

"fhey alss insluda the. alf breathe and thawatlt w® drink.

Happen? U 1

important to understand that scientists don’t know for surę what ctftnate change id bring. Some changes brcught ąftbut by climate change will be good. If you live ih a^efy coal climate, warmer 8®perature® might be welcome. Days and nights eotrtd be twomcomfortable and peoplefn the area may be able to gro w different and betler crops than they could before. But it is also true that changes in some places will not be very good at all.