Everything you need to know about Climate Change

Despite climate change nowadays being a severe problem, many still do not have the idea of what climate change is, and its effects on our lives. So today, I will provide a broad picture of climate change.

What is climate change?

First, let’s talk about climate. Unlike temporary weather which can change daily, the climate is the typical weather conditions in a specific area over a long period of time. So what is climate change? Climate change is the permanent fluctuation of various areas’ temperatures in the world.

Why does climate change occur?

To begin with, let’s talk about the greenhouse effect. Gases such as oxygen, methane, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, etc. create a “blanket” for our Earth which is called the Earth’s greenhouse. Basically, the greenhouse effect does have intrinsic benefits to the Earth – our house. When the sunlight sheds onto our Earth, the Earth receives a certain amount of heat besides the natural light and then it reflects part of the heat into space. If the greenhouse does not trap parts of the heat in the Earth, the heat from the Sun will reflect all out and our Earth will be inhabitable due to fatally low temperature. However beneficial the greenhouse effect is, nowadays it is a severely global problem. Why? Because human create an uncontrollable amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, which augments the available amount of CO2 in the air, which makes the greenhouse effect more extreme. In other words, the massive amount of CO2 humans emit into the air will thicken the Earth’s “blanket”, which traps more heat than needed and then leads to the runaway increase of the Earth’s temperature, extreme weather, etc. So specifically, what are humans doing leading to the severe greenhouse effect?

Reasons for climate change

Since the 1700s, the appearance and the rocketing development of industries in the world have led to an unprecedented increase in CO2 emissions in history. The amount of CO2 humans emitted broke its peak in 1950, and it still going up since then. Industries, factories, etc. are releasing millions of CO2 into the air per day, through their activities.

But the industry is not the only factor. Animals’ raisings for food demands also increase the CO2 in the air. The problem here is these animals leave their body products such as poop, etc. which decay soon and emit methane – another substance creating the Earth’s heat trap- into the atmosphere. Furthermore, deforestation for human purposes will also reduce the amount of CO2 that can be absorbed by the flora.

Waste from people all around the world which is not effectively disposed of will lead to a gradual increase of CO2 also, such as when it is buried on the ground and then it turns into harmful gases such as CO2 into the air. Transportation is also a factor leading to the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere – CO2 emitted from means of transport due to human demands will lead to the extreme greenhouse effect.

The impact of climate change

The first thing that we have to mention is the oceans. The rise of temperature due to the greenhouse effect makes the oceans warmer, and also melts the glaciers of the Earth’s Poles. And what happens next? the sea level rises and islands, and small coastal countries disappear. According to Cambridge University studies, the sea level in general rises by 3 millimetres each year and many areas in the world are now on the verge of disappearance. And also CO2 after being over-trapped will partly fall into the oceans, which increases the acidity of the seawater, which harms the marine ecosystems, which are already fragile.

Secondly, climate change will affect our health as well. Remember what I said before? The greenhouse effect traps more and more heat in our Earth due to humans’ activities. This will also be a trap that does not allow dust, CO2, or cars emission to escape the ground. And the consequences are the appearance of smog, and people – especially urban dwellers are unable to go out without wearing face masks. Various severe diseases nowadays that people have to face due to climate change dwindle them. For instance, factories in Beijing, China have emitted so big an enormous amount of CO2 into the atmosphere that smog appeared everywhere, and the residents here had to wear face masks when they go out.

Last but not least, the weather is also being affected badly by climate change. In many areas, the weather is on steroids. Droughts become more chronic, and the precipitation in tropical areas is recorded at unprecedented huge figures. Storms, hurricanes, floods, etc. all these disasters negatively affect human lives. If we do not take action now, the situation will become worse.

How can we solve this climate change situation?

It’s simple. Reduce, reuse, recycle. We should learn how to reduce the amount of electricity that we use, such as using LED light bulbs instead of conventional ones. Or reducing the amount of meat we eat by replacing it with veggies, which also provide you various amounts of vitamins and minerals.

About reusing, you should learn how to choose products that you can use multiple times rather than using one-time products. To commence with, you can use wooden or metal straws, or you still use your old products if they are still functioning instead of buying new things.

Regarding recycling, we should begin with collecting plastic waste such as bottles, straws, etc. and giving them to recycling companies, so that they can use these materials to make new products instead of exploiting nature.

Conclusion

This situation now is like Tetris the game, but the difference is you cannot click the “replay” button. No wonder how bad this climate change is, if we want, we can completely sort it out, together. Let’s save our Earth!!!