Climate and Biodiversity project

Climate & Biodiversity Comparisons
The Leys Primary & Nursery School

An enrichment club was set up at The Leys Primary School, with the
support of a ‘Tomorrow’s Climate Scientists’ grant’ from the Royal
Society to compare the climate and biodiversity found in and around
our school with that found in Kathmandu, Nepal.
This project explores the multiple causes of climate change, the
approaches being taken to tackle it and potential impact on
biodiversity. In order to provide a focus to the issues, air pollution
was used as the main discussion point as it is something that
communities all over the world can change – today & tomorrow.
This links in closely with several of the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs).

The SDGs, also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the
United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty,
protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace
and prosperity.
The 17 SDGs are integrated—
recognizing that action in one
area will affect outcomes in
others and air quality can be
linked to several Global Goals,
including 3, 4, 7, 9, 11, 12 and 13.

Dr Carolyn Devereux - who
supported this project – is from
the University of Hertfordshire.
Carolyn is a lecturer in Astrophysics and explained to
students from The Leys Primary what her job involves.
She teaches Physics to university students and some of
this involves measuring and gathering data - including
climate data. Hence why Carolyn is also part of the Centre
for Climate Change Research (C3R) at the University.

Poster created by a student
at The Leys Primary
to raise awareness of
climate change

Air quality – particle pollution
Particle pollution — also called particulate matter (PM) — is made
up of particles of solids or liquids that are in the air. Some particles
are big enough (or appear dark enough) to see — for example, you
can often see smoke in the air. Others are so small that you can’t
see them in the air.
Breathing in particle pollution can be harmful to your health.
Coarse (bigger) particles, called PM 10 , can irritate your eyes, nose,
and throat. Dust from roads, farms, dry riverbeds, construction
sites, and mines are types of PM 10 .
Fine (smaller) particles, called PM 2.5 , are more dangerous because
they can get deep into your lungs - or even into your blood.

Stevenage, UK
A local newspaper article from
May 2023, highlighted that air
pollution in Stevenage was well
over the 'health limit' set out by
the World Health Organisation
(WHO), according to Friends of
the Earth data. The statistics
showed the annual concentration
of PM 2.5 in Stevenage was
significantly higher than the
WHO's 5 µg/m 3 'health limit',
sitting at 7.8 µg/m 3 .

PM 2.5 measurement -
Near Stevenage (Sandy)

Key findings
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Levels of pollution have decreased over the past 10 years
Rarely gets to levels that are deemed unhealthy for all people
The highest levels of pollution were recorded from 2016-18 during
the early parts of the year
However, 2019 appears to goes against the trend in that it has
lower levels compared to 2020. We predict this is because of the
Covid-19 lockdown when people were not allowed to leave their
homes. Therefore, reducing the numbers of cars on the road
From 2014-2019, the air pollution is greater at beginning
of the year. This could be because the colder months generally
find more people using vehicles to get around.

Kathmandu, the capital
city of Nepal, is a
‘hotspot’ of urban air
pollution in South Asia.
The reason for this is
partly to do its
geographical location:
it’s found in a bowlshaped
valley which is
surrounded by tall
mountains which trap
urban air pollutants.
Kathmandu, Nepal

PM 2.5 measurement -
Kathmandu (US Embassy)

PM 2.5 measurement -
Kathmandu (US Embassy)

Key findings
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Far higher pollution levels than recorded for Stevenage
Highest levels of pollution occur in winter months. This could be
because colder air will take longer to rise out of Kathmandu
valley
During winter months, pollution is deemed to be a health hazard
for all of the population
2020 appears to goes against the trend of decreasing over time.
This may be due to the Covid-19 pandemic when free movement
of people was restricted. Therefore, reducing the numbers of cars
and other vehicles on the road.

Poster created by a student
at The Leys Primary
to raise awareness of
climate change

A common narrative we see in public
discussions is that levels of air pollution
are at their highest levels in history.
With continued urbanization, denselypopulated
cities and city driving, this
narrative can be easy to believe. But for
rich countries today, such as the UK,
this is far from true. Air pollution levels
today are at some of their lowest levels
in decades.

In the scatterplot opposite we see the comparison of exposure to
PM 2.5 in 1990 (y-axis) and exposure in 2017 (x-axis).
Here we see a very strong regional split: pollution levels have fallen
across most of Europe and North America whilst pollution has
increased in recent decades across most countries in Asia and Africa.

Is climate change real?
There is unequivocal evidence that the Earth is warming at an
unprecedented rate, this includes the following parameters:
• Global temperature is rising
• The oceans are getting warmer
• The ice sheets are shrinking
• Glaciers are retreating
• Sea levels are rising

Yearly global
temperatures from
1880-2023 compared to
the twentieth-century
average. Global average
surface temperature
has risen 0.14 degrees
Fahrenheit per decade
since 1880. The rate of
warming has more than
doubled since 1981.
Data from NOAA NCEI.

Seasonal heat content
in the top half-mile of
the ocean compared to
the 1955-2006 average.
Heat content in the
global ocean has been
above-average (red
bars) since the mid-
1990s. Graph by NOAA
Climate.gov, based on
data from NOAA NCEI.

The total area of the
Arctic Ocean that was
at least 15% ice covered
each September from
1979–2023. Since 1980,
the amount of ice that
survives the summer
has declined by 13.1
percent per decade.
Data from the National
Snow and Ice Data
Center (NSIDC).

Ice loss relative to 1970
for the glaciers in the
World Glacier
Monitoring Service's
climate reference
network. Including the
preliminary values for
2019-2020, these
glaciers have lost a
volume of ice equivalent
to about 27.5 meters (90
feet) of water spread
out over each glacier.
Data from WGMS.

Seasonal sea level
compared to the 1993-
2008 average, based on
a combination of tide
gauges (light blue) and
satellite data (darker
blue). In 2020, global
mean sea level hit a
new record high: 91.3
mm (3.6 inches) above
1993 levels. Data from
UHSLC.

Benefits of exercise
The WHO recommends that children aged 5 – 17 should take part in
at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical
activity every day.
Students from all year groups at The Leys Primary (n = 370) were
asked how they travel to school to determine how much physical
activity this involves.

The survey showed
that less than 60%
of students got
some form of
exercise travelling
to and from school.

Examples of
badges made
by students
from The
Leys Primary

Poster created by a student
at The Leys Primary
to raise awareness of
climate change

Impact of exercise
on the circulatory system

Scientific investigation
Pupils then investigated the impact of exercise on heart rate and
blood pressure.
Students to add the results and conclusions from the investigation

Benefits of active travel
Encouraging students to walk, cycle or scooter to school rather
than come by car can help them to become fitter and healthier
whilst also addressing the amount of air pollution emitted by cars.

Exercise vs air pollution
When you are physically active, you breathe more often and
take more air into your lungs than when you are inactive.
If the air quality is poor, you may breathe in a larger amount
of harmful pollutants. In addition, while exercising, you are
more likely to breathe through your
mouth rather than your nose. Unlike
the nose, the mouth is unable to
filter out certain large pollutants in
the air and stop them from entering
the lungs. Therefore, breathing
through the mouth can lead to more
pollutants entering the airways and
potentially damaging the lungs.

Long-term impact of air pollution
Long-term exposure to
polluted air can have
permanent health
effects, including
making people more
susceptible to illness
and disease. Many of
these effects may not
become apparent for
many years, but the air
children breathe today
can have a significant
impact on their health
in later life.

What can we do?

Clean Air Day is the UK's largest
campaign on air pollution.
Coordinated by Global Action Plan,
the campaign encourages schools,
businesses and communities to find
about more about air pollution and
show their support for action to
make our air cleaner and healthier
for everyone.

This Clean Air Day Thursday 20th June,
take simple actions and make a difference!
• Learn: Find out more about how air pollution impacts
our mental, physical and planet’s health.
• Act: Walk, wheel or use public transport to reduce
your exposure and contribution to air pollution. If you
take the car, try leaving it behind on Clean Air Day and
one day every week.
• Ask: Get in touch with your local councillor to ask
them to support clean air measures that make it easier
for you to breathe clean air.

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Local biodiversity study

The students will use iNaturalist to help them identify the plants
and animals that are found in and around their school
environment whilst also generating data for science
and conservation.
They will then investigate the difference types
of species that were found in the UK and Nepal
and aim to identify similarities and differences.

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Poster created by a student
at The Leys Primary
to raise awareness of
climate change

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