Climate change is a crucial topic that affects everyone on our planet. Here’s a brief overview for those keen on learning about climate change.
Climate change refers to significant and lasting changes in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. Natural processes or human activities often cause these changes.
The burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas), deforestation, industrial processes, and agriculture release greenhouse gases (GHGs) like carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) into the atmosphere. These gases trap heat and cause the Earth’s temperature to rise, leading to global warming.
Volcanic eruptions, variations in solar radiation, and changes in Earth’s orbit can also contribute to climate change, but the current warming trend is primarily attributed to human activities.
Global temperatures are increasing, leading to more frequent and intense heatwaves. What’s more, the knock-on effects will affect all generations to follow.
Ice caps in polar regions and glaciers worldwide are melting, contributing to rising sea levels.
Climate change is linked to more frequent and severe weather events such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, and wildfires.
Increased levels of CO2 are absorbed by the oceans, leading to ocean acidification, which harms marine life, especially coral reefs and shellfish.
Many species are struggling to adapt to rapidly changing conditions. As a result, this leads to shifts in ecosystems and loss of biodiversity.
Climate change exacerbates air pollution. What’s more, it increases the spread of diseases, and affects food and water security. This leads to negative impacts on human health.
This involves efforts to reduce or prevent the emission of GHGs by transitioning to renewable energy sources. Hence improving energy efficiency, and implementing policies to limit emissions.
Focuses on adjusting to the changes that are already happening or expected to occur, such as building seawalls to protect against rising sea levels, developing drought-resistant crops, and implementing early warning systems for extreme weather events.
The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, is a landmark international treaty aimed at limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Basically, learning more about climate change is essential for understanding its impacts and how we can work together to address this global challenge.