Climate and Climate Change in Rwanda
Senior 2 · Geography and Environment
Climate and Climate Change in Rwanda
Lesson 2 of 3
18 min
Older farmers in many parts of Rwanda say that the rains no longer start when they used to, and that when they come, they come harder. One late season is just weather. A pattern that shifts over decades, across the whole planet, is climate change. To respond to it sensibly you first need to know what it is and what drives it.
Climate change is a long-term change in the average temperature, rainfall and other weather patterns of a place or of the whole Earth, lasting decades or longer. Today the term usually refers to the global warming observed since the 1800s: the Earth's average surface temperature is now more than 1 °C higher than before the industrial age.
This natural greenhouse effect is good: without it the Earth would be frozen. The problem is the enhanced greenhouse effect: people are adding extra greenhouse gases, so more heat is trapped and the planet warms.
These cannot explain the rapid warming of the last century, which scientists attribute mainly to human activity.
| Activity | Gas released | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Burning fossil fuels (petrol, diesel, coal, gas) for transport, power and industry | CO2 | Vehicles, generators, factories |
| Deforestation and burning wood or charcoal | CO2; fewer trees to absorb it | Clearing forest for farms; charcoal for cooking |
| Livestock and wet rice fields | Methane | Cattle digestion; flooded paddies |
| Chemical fertilisers | Nitrous oxide | Over-use of nitrogen fertiliser |
| Rubbish rotting in dumps | Methane | Open dumpsites in growing towns |
| Cement making and other industry | CO2 | Heating limestone releases CO2 |
"Rwanda is a major cause of climate change." Evaluate this statement.
Tip
Memory hook. The greenhouse effect is a blanket. A thin blanket (natural) keeps you comfortable; piling on more blankets (the enhanced effect) makes you overheat. The extra blankets are CO2, methane and nitrous oxide from human activity.
Solution: a long-term change (decades or more) in the average temperature, rainfall and weather patterns of a place or of the Earth.
Solution: any three of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapour.
Solution: burning or rotting trees release CO2, and fewer trees remain to absorb CO2 from the air.
Solution: no. One year is weather (natural variability); climate change is shown by a trend over decades.
Summary
Sources and credits
The table, worked example and practice items are written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
