How It Works - UK (2020-05)

084 How It Works http://www.howitworksdaily.com

NoahSmith

n Australianw ildfiresaredefinitelyontherise

andw illbecomeevenmorefrequentinthe

future.Recentstudieshavediscoveredthatthis

worr y ingtrendismainlyduetoclimatechange

ratherthannaturalvariationandw illtherefore

continuetoincreaseinfrequenc yastheplanet

continuestoheatup.Theclimatecrisishas,not

onlyraisedtemperaturestoover 40 degrees

CelsiusinAustralia,it hasalsochangedrainfall

patterns,leadingtoinev itabledroughts.JE

Are Australian wildfires

becoming more frequent?

Why is petrolso

cheap in theUS

compared to UK?

MasonCarter

n It’salldow ntotaxation.Federaltaxonpetrol

isabout 18 centsa gallonintheUS,whileinthe

UK,t wo-thirdsofthepetrolpriceconsistsoffuel

dut yandVAT.JE

Does the helium

gas in balloons

float up into

space?

JoyceLawrence

n Whileheliuminballoonsdoesgetlost,it

doesn’texactlyfloatintospace.Itislightenough

todrifttotheupperatmosphere.Helium

wouldn’tgetintospaceonitsow nif it leaked

froma balloon,buttheSunshootsoutparticles

thatchurnuptheupperatmosphere.Thiscan

ripoutsomeheliumintospace.Whilethis

doesn’thappentomosthelium,it’sstillnearly

impossibletoretrieveit outoftheair.AE

© Getty

What difference do

cars make to global

warming?

Yuumi Fujimoto

n The average car emits 5,450 kilograms of carbon

dioxide ever y year. More carbon means more heat

trapped in our atmosphere, so using motor vehicles

contributes to global warming. AG

© Getty

© Getty

Australian skies glow an eerie

orange as the fires rage on

Balloons can’t

escape into space,

but the helium

inside might