Climate change refers to a long-term change in the average weather patterns, which could occur at local, regional, or global levels. Another term for climate change is a shift in weather patterns. Both nature and humans can cause shifts in weather patterns. Changes in the Sun’s activity and volcanic eruptions are two major natural factors that cause climate change. However, since the 1800s, two human activities— fossil fuel burning and deforestation —have been causing a shift in weather patterns.
Climate change is a major concern in recent times. If not addressed in due time, it will threaten food production and raise sea levels, causing catastrophic floods that will disrupt millions of people’s lives. This article will cover climate change and its impact, and possible solutions.
Understanding Climate Change
The scientific definition of climate change is a long-term change in temperature and rainfall of a region. Scientists have been collecting data about Earth by using satellites and other instruments for a long time. Scientific analysis of this data shows that the Earth’s average temperature is increasing. This rising temperature of the Earth is the main reason for climate change.
Earth’s climate has constantly been changing. Scientists have found that thousands of years ago, before humans came into the picture, it took a long time before a major shift in climate. However, this frequency has now become more frequent.
Scientists identified that ” The Greenhouse Gas” effect is one of the main reasons for the rising planet’s temperature. The greenhouse gas effect is certain gases, such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons, and water vapor, which are also known as Greenhouse gases, trapping radiating heat from the earth’s surface into space, increasing the earth’s temperature. Over the last 100 years, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has increased significantly. Human activities like fossil fuel burning, deforestation, and industrialization are responsible for the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases.
Natural processes can also contribute to climate change. In the pre-industrial period, climate change was explained by natural processes such as Changes in the Sun’s orbit and rotation, variations in solar activity, and volcanic activity. Changes in the Sun’s energy output, for example, can affect the intensity of sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface.
While these changes can affect the Earth’s climate, solar variations do not play a significant role in climate change. Satellites that have been collecting data since 1978 show that there is no significant increase in the amount of solar energy reaching the Earth’s surface. Volcanoes also played a noticeable role in climate change in the distant past by releasing a large amount of carbon dioxide. However, human activities like fossil fuel burning in modern times release far greater quantities of carbon dioxide.
Global Impacts of Climate Change
The scientists around the world apprehended that climate change is an existential threat to humans on this planet. The principal effect of climate change is rising temperatures, which is causing other cascading results such as melting ice caps, rising sea levels, and unleashing extreme weather conditions.
The first unmistakable sign of climate change, which resulted in the rising temperature, is the melting of ice in the Arctic and the Antarctic regions of the Earth. The concerning fact is that melting ice in these regions causes more warming. The mechanism involving melting ice that results in more warming is called the feedback effect. The effect involves, as each summer, more and more ice and snow melting, exposing more land and sea water underneath. The Earth’s surface absorbs more radiation and releases it into the atmosphere, which further increases the temperature.
The increase in sea level is another hallmark of climate change. This phenomenon refers to the increase in the average height of the ocean surface measured from the center of the Earth. Two key factors- melting of glaciers and ice sheets, and the thermal expansion of sea water-are responsible for sea level elevation. The rising sea levels have far-reaching impacts on coastal regions, ecosystems, and the global economy.
Many low-lying regions of the world will experience permanent flooding. According to a research report, sunken coastal regions will affect one billion people in the next decade. The rising sea level will also threaten food security by increasing the salinity of arable land, reducing its crop production.
We often read or see breaking news in the mainstream media about a catastrophic hurricane lashing out in North Carolina in the USA, a raging wildfire wreaking havoc in many regions of California, and a prolonged drought causing famine in a certain part of Africa. These extreme weather conditions are a manifestation of climate change. Many of us think that climate change may happen in the future; however, these extreme weather events tell otherwise.
Climate change has also been affecting biodiversity and ecosystems. The changing weather patterns are taking their toll by driving many wild species to extinction. Climate change results in rising temperatures that cause habitat loss of wild species on land and sea. With the loss of habitat, wildlife also become extinct. In 2019-2020, the Australian bushfire that resulted from extreme heat burned down 19 million hectares of land. The catastrophic event killed and displaced 3 billion animals.
Animals that live in limited climate ranges, such as Arctic foxes and polar bears, are vulnerable to extinction. The imminent threat of extinction remains high for animals living in restricted habitats and small, isolated populations. Galapagos giant tortoises and marine iguanas belong to this group.
Ecosystems refer to communities of different living entities, including animals, plants, and microorganisms. All of the entities are interdependent in one way or the other for their existence on the Earth. For example, men depend on plants for their food. Plants, on the other hand, depend on men and other animals for photosynthesis, by which they produce their food. Climate controls many different aspects of living things.
How plants grow, how animals behave, which species will thrive or become extinct, and how they will interact with the physical environment- these are several aspects that depend on climate. The effects of climate change can have a significant impact on ecosystems. Bees, for example, may become extinct due to climate change in a few years. The extinction of bees will impact pollination, which in turn will threaten food security for animals, including humans.
Socioeconomic Consequences
The socioeconomic consequences of climate change are more pressing than other ill effects. A range of climate change-related consequences are impacts on agriculture that will increase food insecurity, economic losses due to natural disasters, the spread of diseases, and mass displacement.
Climate change, if no strategy is in place to mitigate it, would cause a disaster in agriculture and food production. Agriculture is quite sensitive to weather and climate. It also relies heavily on land, water, and other natural resources. Climate change or changing weather patterns causes excessive rainfall in some areas, and drought in others, which makes cultivation difficult, resulting in low crop production.
Natural disasters, where climate change is a primary driver, are making substantial economic losses. According to the World Meteorological Organization’s Atlas, between 1970 and 2021, climate-related disasters resulted in a staggering $4.3 trillion in economic losses. These costs are escalating and now exceeding $2.3 trillion annually.
Climate change is impacting health in numerous ways. Extreme weather events like hurricanes and flooding often claim many lives. Heatwave is a major cause of illness, which worsens respiratory-related health conditions such as asthma and COPD. Death from heatstroke is also the result of a heatwave. The spread of vector-borne diseases is attributed to climate change. Furthermore, malnutrition, which triggers many illnesses, directly or indirectly, happens due to climate change.
Among many impacts of climate change, the displacement and migration of millions of people across the world, either internally or across borders, pose an insurmountable challenge. Environmental degradation, prolonged drought, excessive rainfalls, and abnormal heat make people’s living conditions uninhabitable and snatch away their livelihood. All of these unfavorable conditions force them to flee either within or to another country.
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies
Energy is the main obstacle to tackling climate change. The solution also lies in it. Electricity and heat are vital for the existence of human civilization. These two essential items come from burning fossil fuels, which also produce greenhouse gases that trap heat on the Earth’s surface, resulting in climate change. Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases is the correct scientific solution, and of course, the most effective way to mitigate the impacts of all climate change-related disasters.
The target of the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is set to half of the present volume by 2030, and net zero by 2050. Although it is a lofty target, it is attainable if we were to replace fossil fuels with green energy sources such as wind, sunlight, hydro, organic waste, and heat from the Earth. These are clean, accessible, affordable, sustainable, and reliable.
Since the early 1900s, the climate change issue has become a global agenda when countries started to debate how to combat it. Several important climate-focused protocols, including the Kyoto protocol and the Paris agreement, are the outcome of these international negotiations. The Paris agreement, adopted in 2015, for example, is an international treaty protected by legal commitments aiming to keep global warming well below 2 degrees centigrade, ideally 1.5 degrees centigrade, above pre-industrial levels.
The governments of different countries are important stakeholders in combating climate change impacts. They have introduced a wide range of policies that directly or indirectly contribute to the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture, forestry, and land use. Policies that prevent or reduce the removal of large carbon sinks are identified as quite effective in absorbing greenhouse gases. The large carbon sinks refer to ecosystems such as oceans, forests, and soils that naturally absorb greenhouse gases.
The adaptation strategies address adjustments in ecological, social, or economic systems in response to climate change-related issues. These are increasing frequency of extreme weather events, shifts in the season, and changes in average temperature. There is a wide range of adaptation actions that depend on the unique context of a community, business, organization, region, society, and country. Although more or less all regions of the world require different adaptation strategies, these actions are essential for vulnerable communities. These are areas, such as parts of Africa, where prolonged droughts leave millions of people hungry. Switching to drought-resistant crops is an effective climate adaptation strategy for these areas.
The Role of Individuals and Communities
Individuals and communities have significant responsibilities in combating climate change. At personal levels, we can make conscientious decisions in energy consumption, like walking, cycling, and using more public transportation, and reduce our reliance on private vehicles, which will help reduce fossil fuel burning. Installing solar panels at home during the summer for domestic energy consumption is another green initiative in our commitment to a smaller carbon footprint.
Community-wide initiatives in reducing carbon footprint are equally important in combating climate change. For example, local governments and organizations can invest in renewable energy sources- solar, wind, and others. Making public transport more accessible is possible by both local governments and private organizations alike. Planting trees and creating parks to absorb more carbon dioxide are similar types of collective responsibilities. Governments can offer incentives for businesses that use more green energy to encourage them to reduce their carbon footprint.
Addressing climate change requires more immediate practical actions, like reducing greenhouse gas emissions and using renewable, sustainable energy- solar power, wind, hydro, and geothermal energy. Nations need to embrace green energy sources more while lessening reliance on carbon-centric fuels. Only actions and not words can prevent the global temperature from exceeding 1.5°C, which will make climate change a reality- a situation no one wants to see.
