Climate change is having great impacts on natural systems around the world, worse than experts originally anticipated. Effects of droughts, heat waves, and rises in sea level are occurring at lower temperatures, so it is critical to take action towards halting the effects of climate change as soon as possible.
What is Climate Change?
Climate change refers to the shift in weather patterns or a change in Earth’s usual temperature. Climate change is measured through Earth-orbiting satellites and other technology. Scientists look at Earth’s land, air, water, and ice to judge Earth’s climate. They also consider the Sun and the energy it sends out to Earth.
Earth’s climate is always changing. There are natural changes that can result from Earth’s distance to the Sun or a volcano erupting. However, the current warming trend is undoubtedly attributed to human activity. Humans drive cars, cook food, and heat and cool their homes. These actions release gasses into the atmosphere that can cause the air to heat up, changing the climate of an area. Energy, industry, transport, buildings, agriculture and land use are some of the main greenhouse gas emitters.
Impacts of Climate Change
People who study climate change have noted that Earth’s climate has shown significant increase in temperature in the last 100 years. The Earth’s surface temperature has increased by two degrees Fahrenheit (one degrees Celsius) since 1906. The last decade actually marks the warmest temperature Earth has ever reached. Although this temperature increase might seem small, even a small rise like this can have a huge, negative impact around the world.
The added heat is causing global warming. Glaciers and sea ice are melting, precipitation patterns are changing, and floods are occurring more frequently. There are droughts in some areas, increasing wildfires, loss of crops, and water shortages. Trees and corals are being killed off, taking away food and habitats for wildlife. Humans and wildlife are being forced to migrate to other areas in order to survive these severe changes.
We Need to Adapt
Natural systems are being disrupted due to climate change and if we do not start taking action now, things will continue to get worse. If we continue the way we have been, natural disasters will become worse, there will be more droughts and heat waves across the world, and some species will become extinct. The impacts of climate change can become more complex and more difficult to manage the longer we do not make changes to our habits.
There are things we can do as a society to slow the effects of climate change. We can restore wetlands and other natural habitats in flood plains to reduce the amount of floods. We can conserve mangroves to protect shorelines from storms. We can protect marine life by reducing overfishing. We can improve soil health to increase agriculture resilience.
Most importantly, we have to avoid “maladaptation”. We cannot adapt to impacts of climate change and not take the steps to eliminate what causes it. This means we need to work on decreasing our greenhouse gas emissions.
Since it is the industrial sector causing most emissions, big corporations need to lower their carbon footprint. They should burn less fossil fuels and use renewable energy. Although, individuals can make a difference as well! Use rooftop solar panels. Plant some trees. Decrease your energy and water usage. Turn off the lights when you do not need them. Do not run water when it is not directly in use.
People across the globe need to work together to help Earth in fighting climate change and even taking small steps like these can be of big help!
By: Amanda Aber
Written On: 3/24/22
Citations
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Mulvaney, K. (2022, February 28). Climate change already worse than expected, says new UN report. Environment. Retrieved March 24, 2022, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/climate-change-already-worse-than-expected-un-report
NASA. (2021, August 26). The effects of climate change. NASA. Retrieved March 24, 2022, from https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/
NASA. (2022, February 8). Climate change evidence: How do we know? NASA. Retrieved March 24, 2022, from https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
National Geographic. (2022, February 16). Global warming effects. Environment. Retrieved March 24, 2022, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/global-warming-effects
United Nations. (n.d.). What is climate change? United Nations. Retrieved March 24, 2022, from https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change
