RECENT storms and flooding are pushing people to think about their carbon footprint.

Excessive burning of fossil fuels particularly over the last 50 years has resulted in a sharp rise of CO2 gas being released into the atmosphere.

CO2, along with other heat-trapping greenhouse gases, prevents heat from leaving our atmosphere.

Some people point to natural causes for contributing to climate change, but many scientists believe it to be a result of carbon-hungry lifestyles.

People are taking heed of the warnings, according to father-of-four Dave Hampton, a carbon coach from Marlow. He teaches people how to reduce their output.

He said: "It might be wishful thinking, but I have seen more people walking and cycling around Marlow in the days since the weekend and I think what if the events are connected?

"I am one of those guys whose mind was made up long ago. For me that is the biggest question in the world.

"Over the last 100 years or so we have got addicted to burning fossil fuels. In the past we have been encouraged to burn more.

"It is very difficult to hear something when the people saying it aren't doing it."

He believes that we are now being affected by the last 50 years of carbon burning and today's burning will affect us sooner than some think.

"I do think it's much shorter term effects, in our children's lifetimes, within the next 50 years or so," he added.

The Environment Agency recognises that some places have recorded their biggest downpours ever; it does not specifically attribute the problem to global warming, pointing out that we have had bad weather in the past.

Environment Agency spokesman, David Ferguson, said: "They do appear to be happening more recently, but much of the trouble has been that our drainage systems can't cope. We can't control the weather, but we can prepare for it."

On the question of whether the floods were caused by climate change the Met Office stated: "Although no single event can be attributed to climate change, we do expect there to be greater rainfall over the UK during winter as the climate warms.

"Although summers are expected to become generally drier, when the atmospheric conditions are favourable for wet weather, as in this summer, there may be an increase in the frequency or intensity of extreme rainfall events."

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a scientific forum set up as part of the United Nations in 1988, bringing together climate experts from across the world, predicts that global average temperature will further increase by up to 5.8C by 2100 because of human activities, which will result in melting polar ice caps, rising sea levels and more storms.