The challenge of climate change

Wherever we live, the climate seems to be changing. Storms brew more fiercely, ice caps are melting and grape vines flourish happily in ever more northerly climes in Europe.

Seeking explanation, scientists, governments and ordinary people are increasingly linking these changes to higher emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from human activities. Since the Kyoto Protocol was introduced in 1997, the evidence for human induced (“anthropogenic”) climate change has grown.

Only a shrinking minority of scientists now believe that climate change is caused principally by natural factors like volcanic eruptions and sunspots. Rio Tinto believes that emissions of GHGs from human activities are contributing to climate change.

GHGs enter the earth’s atmosphere in a variety of ways. One major source is the combustion of fossil fuels in power stations and automobile engines, but there are many other important contributors, from aluminium production to agriculture and forestry practices.