CLIMATE CHANGE DISASTER: CAUSES, EFFECTS AND SOLUTION:
Ankita Nag
Climate is the average weather in a place over many years. Climate change is a shift in those average conditions. The Earth is now in a period of rapid climate change, with global temperatures rising because of human activities, such as the burning of coal, oil and gas.
Before human causes started to shift the global climate, five main factors interacted with one another as climate changes occurred. These five factors include:
1.Atmosphere (air)
2.Biosphere (living things)
3.Cryosphere (ice and permafrost)
4.Hydrosphere (water)
5.Lithosphere (earth’s crust and upper mantle)
What Are the Causes of Climate Change?
The American Association for the Advancement of Science has stated, “The scientific evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now, and it is a growing threat to society.”
Below are a few of the ways humans are accelerating climate change:
· GREENHOUSE GAS:
Greenhouse gases play a vital role in the earth’s climate cycles. As the planet gets hit with the sun’s rays, some of the energy is absorbed, and the rest of that energy and heat gets reflected into space. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap the reflected energy, redirecting it back down to the earth and eventually contributing to global warming. Various gases play this role, including:
1.Water vapor
2.Carbon dioxide (CO2)
3.Methane
4.Nitrous oxide
5.Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
· SOLAR ACTIVITY
Solar activity as mentioned above, does play a role in the earth’s climate. While the sun does go through natural cycles, increasing and decreasing the amount of energy that it emits to the earth, it is unlikely that solar activity is a major contributor to global warming or climate change. Since scientists began to measure the sun’s energy hitting our atmosphere, there has not been a measurable upward trend.
· AGRICULTURE:
From deforestation in places like the Amazon to the transportation and livestock that it takes to support agricultural efforts around the world, agriculture is responsible for a significant portion of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. However, agriculture is also an area that is making tremendous strides to become more sustainable. As productivity increases, less carbon is being emitted to produce more food. Agriculture also has the potential to act as a carbon sink, and could eventually absorb nearly the same amount of CO2 it emits.
· DEFORESTATION:
Deforestation and climate change often go hand in hand. Not only does climate change increase deforestation by way of wildfires and other extreme weather, but deforestation is also a major contributor to global warming. According to the Earth Day Network, deforestation is the second leading contributor to global greenhouse gasses. Many people and organizations fighting against climate change point to reducing deforestation as one of, if not the most, important issues that must be addressed to slow or prevent climate change.
- Between 2015–2020 10 million hectares of forest were destroyed every year giving a 35.48% decline for 2015–2020 compared to 1990–2010 and 16.67% decline compared to 2010–2015. (UN News)
- 2,400 trees are cut down each minute. (EIB)
· HUMAN ACTIVITY
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the most significant contributor to climate change in the United States is the burning of fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation. Of these factors, transportation in the form of cars, trucks, ships, trains, and planes emits the largest percentage of CO2–speeding up global warming and remaining a significant cause of climate change.
Extreme Weather:
Stronger storms ,Heatwaves, Wildfires, more flooding, Heavier droughts are most prominent effects.
· Safety & Economic Challenges :
In 2014 the U.S. Department of defence released a report that stated climate change posed a severe and immediate threat to national security. According to former Secretary of defence, Chuck Hagel, “Rising global temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, climbing sea levels, and more extreme weather events will intensify the challenges of global instability, hunger, poverty, and conflict.”
· People:
Climate change will transform the way people live, causing water shortages and making it harder to produce food . Some regions could become dangerously hot and others uninhabitable because of rising sea levels.
BBC News
· Rise in Sea Level:
· Excepted temperature rise:
SOLUTIONS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE:
· Purchase Renewable Energy Certificate for your home power needs
· Make your home energy efficient
· Buy carbon offsets
· Adopt a plant-based diet
· Reduce food waste
· Recycle
· Stop using fossil fuels
· Stop deforestation
“SAVE EARTH , SAVE A HOPE OF LIFE” — save beloved Earth, make future more bright.
