Climate change is real and has now become the most important issue which needs immediate attention. Even though right wing political parties deny the very notion of climate change, its harm full effects are already visible. The average world temperature has increased by about 0.8 degree as of April 2019 and irregularity in climate patterns are seen everywhere. But why does climate change become important and why is 0.8-degree rise in temperature alarming?
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is released in the atmosphere due to activities such as burning of fossil fuels like oil and coal. A sudden spike in its emission was seen in mid-20th century due to the industrial revolution and it is continuing even now. The tripling of human population is also a reason. The consumption of meat and other animal products add another harmful gas to the atmosphere called Methane. These gases, upon reaching the atmosphere, trap heat from the sun and make the planet warmer, also called ‘The Greenhouse Effect’. But the concern is not the increase in temperature, but the speed at which it is increasing.
According to the United Nations, if the temperature rises by 1.5 degree by the end of this century, it will not have a major effect; but we have already reached this mark in ten years and its ramifications are certainly visible. Sea levels are rising by 3 millimeters a year because sea water expands as the temperature gets warmer. Melting glaciers add fresh water to the sea making it a scarce resource. Coastal cities such as Miami and Osaka can go under water within the next 80 years and people will have nowhere to live.
The Amazon forest fires of 2019 and Australian fires of 2020 are the two most catastrophic effects of climate change that were recently witnessed. We lost 7 million hectares of jungle in the Amazon, which produces 20% of the world’s oxygen. The Australian fires wiped 18 million hectares of forest land and killed around 1 billion animals including mammals, birds and reptiles. All this happened with just 0.8-degree increase in global temperatures.
In 2016, world leaders signed the “Paris Agreement” agreeing to limit the emission of CO2 to a certain level. CO2 emissions have been going up the last year by 2% and that’s above the average of the last 10 years. USA, the world’s biggest CO2 emitter has pulled out from the Paris deal. China and Russia are still trying to manage their emissions but improvement is still not visible. Turkey and Poland, on the other hand, want to build more power plants that use coal.
The extent of the devastation caused by climate change can be understood with some facts and statistics. The concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is 408 parts per million, as of 2018, which is the highest it has ever been in 3 million years. Around 11% of the world’s population is affected every year by the calamities created by climate change.
All hope is still not lost. We can bring change through individual actions and by spreading awareness. On an individual level you can plant more trees, take public transports, alter your diet and remove animal products from it, such as meat. This will help lower your individual carbon footprint. On a greater level, we can spread awareness and pressurize political parties and government to take steps towards environment protection. All these may seem like small steps, but they will surely give us results in the long run.
We are well into the sixth mass extinction event and if we do not take any action immediately, we might lose the only planet capable of sustaining life.
References
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/what-is-climate-change-definition-causes-effects
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4H1N_yXBiA