Climate change

Scientists are certain that the earth's climate is changing because of increased emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, mainly from fossil fuels and deforestation. These gases trap heat in the atmosphere, raising the earth's average temperature.

The climate is immensely complicated, with weather in any one place being affected by all sorts of factors. That's what makes it so hard to predict tomorrow's - or next week's - weather. A higher overall global temperature will mean different things in different regions. This is why it has taken some time for scientists to agree what's happening.

Although learning about the impacts of climate change is an ongoing process, the types of impacts and when they will occur are already becoming clearer. We are already experiencing intense rainfall, severe storms, droughts and summer heatwaves, and we can expect these events to become more severe and more frequent over the coming decades.

It's only sensible to act now and adapt our homes so that they are comfortable and healthy places to live, both now and in the future.

The good news is that many ways of adapting homes are inexpensive and easy to do, and they can also help reduce carbon emissions.