Climate Change And Its Impact - What Can We Do?

By: Sonali, Diamond

Published On: February 22, 2022

Climate Change is one of the greatest threats and challenges facing our planet. According to the United Nations, “Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be due to natural events like variations in the solar cycle. But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas.” The negative effects of climate change are already being felt throughout the world. Change in one part of the world can influence changes in all the other parts as well.

Earth is sometimes called the “Goldilocks” planet as its condition is not too hot and not too cold, but just right to allow life to sustain. One of the reasons that make Earth so amenable is its natural greenhouse effect, which keeps the planet at a friendly 15°C or 59 °F. However, in the last century or so, humans have been interfering with the planet's natural energy balance. Here we discuss some major factors contributing to climate change.

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Causes Of Climate Change

Human activities are largely influencing the climate and the Earth’s temperature. Certain activities that we discuss below add an enormous amount of greenhouse gases contributing to and increasing the natural amount of greenhouse already existing. This in turn increases the greenhouse effect and causes global warming.

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Greenhouse Effect

One of the major drivers of climate change is the greenhouse effect. According to Nasa.gov, the greenhouse effect is the way in which heat is trapped close to Earth's surface by “greenhouse gases.” These heat-trapping gases can be thought of as a blanket wrapped around Earth, keeping the planet toastier than it would be without them. Some of the major greenhouse gases that cause the greenhouse effect are:

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Carbon Dioxide (CO2) - is the largest contributor to global warming. By 2022, its atmospheric concentration has risen to 48% above its pre-industrial level.
Methane - is an even more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. However, Methane has a shorter atmospheric lifetime.
Nitrous Oxide - is a very long-lived gas that can stay in the atmosphere for decades to centuries.
Fluorinated Gases - these are the most potent and longest-lasting types of greenhouse gases emitted by human activities. There are four main categories of fluorinated gases - Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs), Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6), and Nitrogen Trifluoride (NF3). These gases have a warming effect up to 23000 times greater than carbon dioxide.

Source: ImpactGuru.com

Causes For Rising Emissions Of Greenhouse Gases

Burning fossil fuels, coal, oil, and natural gas
Deforestation
Increasing livestock farming
Electricity Generation
Increasing Transportation

Global Warming

The decade 2011-2020 was the warmest decade recorded with the global average temperature reaching 1.1°C. Human-induced global warming is now increasing at a rate of 0.2°C per decade. In its 5th Assessment Report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of 1,300 independent scientific experts from countries all over the world under the auspices of the United Nations, concluded there's a more than 95 percent probability that human activities over the past 50 years have warmed our planet. The industrial activities that our modern civilization depends upon have raised atmospheric carbon dioxide levels from 280 ppm to about 417 ppm in the last 151 years.

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All the reasons mentioned above have been severely contributing to climate change. The effect of which is already being witnessed by the world.

Effects Of Climate Change

According to United Nations, here are some major effects of climate change that are being witnessed or can be seen in the future-

Hotter Temperatures
More Severe Storms
Increased Drought
Warming Of Oceans
Rise In The Ocean Level
Loss Of Species
Poverty and Displacement
More Health Risks

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So far we had a look at what climate change is and how various factors are contributing to its increase. Also, the severe effects that are affecting humankind and the environment. When the threat is so huge and catastrophic there requires a collective action from each one of us to stop its increase and reduce the damage already done.

What The World Is Doing To Stop Climate Change

Various conventions and agreements have been established so far at a global level to analyze and then take action to stop climate change.