CLIMATE CHANGE

Sometimes people confuse climate with weather. As opposed to weather, which can change from day to day or from year to year, climate is measured over a long period of time. Seasonal averages of temperature, rainfall, and wind are all factors in a region's climate. Climates vary from location to place. For instance, a desert is said to have an arid climate because there is little snowfall or rain over the year. Tropical climates, which are hot and humid, and temperate climates, which have warm summers and colder winters, are other types of climate.

Fig:1 Worldwide Temperature Data

The gradual alteration of a region's temperature and usual weather patterns is referred to as climate change. Climate change might apply to a certain area or the entire world. Weather patterns could become less predictable as a result of climate change. Because projected temperature and rainfall levels can no longer be depended upon, these unexpected weather patterns can make it challenging to maintain and develop crops in areas that rely on farming. Other harmful weather occurrences like more frequent and more intense hurricanes, floods, downpours, and winter storms have all been linked to climate change. Because of the increased global temperatures brought on by climate change, ice sheets and glaciers in polar regions are melting more quickly from season to season. This causes sea levels to rise in various parts of the world. The expansion of ocean waters brought on by warming temperatures and the ensuing rise in sea level have both started to harm coasts due to increasing floods and erosion.

The use of fossil fuels like coal, natural gas, and oil is a major contributor to the current climate change. When these materials are burned, greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere of the planet. There, these gases cause the atmosphere to become overheated from the sun's rays, which raises the planet's average temperature. Global warming is the term used to describe this rise in global temperature. Local and regional climates are impacted by global warming. The climate of Earth has been fluctuating since since it was formed. This is a long process that has been going on for hundreds of thousands of years when it happens organically. The current, human-influenced climate change is happening far more quickly.

Deserts are growing larger as a result of climate change, and heat waves and wildfires are occurring more frequently. The melting of permafrost, glacier retreat, and sea ice loss in the Arctic are all results of increased heat. More violent storms, droughts, and other weather extremes are also being brought on by rising temperatures.  Many species are being forced to move or go extinct due to the rapid environmental change occurring in the Arctic, coral reefs, and mountains. People are at risk from food and water shortages, greater flooding, high heat, an increase in disease, and economic loss due to climate change. Conflicts and human migration may also result. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the greatest threat to world health in the twenty-first century is climate change. Even if efforts are effective in reducing future warming, some consequences will last for generations. 

It will be necessary to move away from consuming power produced from fossil fuels and toward electricity produced from low-carbon sources in order to significantly reduce emissions. This entails the phase-out of coal and natural gas-fired power plants, a massive increase in the use of wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources, as well as the adoption of energy-saving measures. Fossil fuels will need to be replaced by electricity produced from non-carbon-emitting sources in order to power transportation, heat buildings, and run industrial operations. Additionally, carbon can be taken out of the atmosphere by using farming techniques that collect carbon in the soil and expanding the amount of forest cover. Communities may try to adapt to climate change by improving coastal protection, but they cannot completely eliminate the possibility of negative, broad, and long-lasting effects. 

Climate change is impacting human lives and health in a variety of ways. It threatens the essential ingredients of good health – clean air, safe drinking water, nutritious food supply and safe shelter – and has the potential to undermine decades of progress in global health.

Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250000 additional deaths per year from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress alone. The direct damage costs to health are estimated to be between US$ 2–4 billion per year by 2030. Areas with weak health infrastructure – mostly in developing countries – will be the least able to cope without assistance to prepare and respond.

Greenhouse gas emissions that result from the extraction and burning of fossil fuels are major contributors to both climate change and air pollution. Many policies and individual measures, such as transport, food and energy use choices, have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and produce major health co-benefits, particularly by abating air pollution. The phase out of polluting energy systems, for example, or the promotion of public transportation and active movement, could both lower carbon emissions and cut the burden of household and ambient air pollution, which cause 7 million premature deaths per year.

Greenhouse gas concentrations are at their highest levels in 2 million years

And emissions continue to rise. As a result, the Earth is now about 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late 1800s. The last decade (2011-2020) was the warmest on record.

Many people think climate change mainly means warmer temperatures. But temperature rise is only the beginning of the story. Because the Earth is a system, where everything is connected, changes in one area can influence changes in all others.

The consequences of climate change now include, among others, intense droughts, water scarcity, severe fires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting polar ice, catastrophic storms and declining biodiversity.

What Causes Climate Change?

There are lots of factors that contribute to Earth’s climate. However, scientists agree that Earth has been getting warmer in the past 50 to 100 years due to human activities.

Certain gases in Earth’s atmosphere block heat from escaping. This is called the greenhouse effect. These gases keep Earth warm like the glass in a greenhouse keeps plants warm.

Human activities — such as burning fuel to power factories, cars and buses — are changing the natural greenhouse. These changes cause the atmosphere to trap more heat than it used to, leading to a warmer Earth.

Does What We Do Matter?

Yes. When human activities create greenhouse gases, Earth warms. This matters because oceans, land, air, plants, animals and energy from the Sun all have an effect on one another. The combined effects of all these things give us our global climate. In other words, Earth’s climate functions like one big, connected system.

Thinking about things as systems means looking for how every part relates to others. NASA’s Earth observing satellites collect information about how our planet’s atmosphere, water and land are changing.

By looking at this information, scientists can observe how Earth’s systems work together. This will help us understand how small changes in one place can contribute to bigger changes in Earth’s global climate.

How will climate change affect the world?

Climate change will have different effects across the world. According to UN climate body, the IPCC, if global temperature rise cannot be kept within 1.5C:

• The UK and Europe will be vulnerable to flooding caused by extreme rainfall
• Countries in the Middle East will experience extreme heatwaves and widespread drought
• Island nations in the Pacific region could disappear under rising seas
• Many African nations are likely to suffer droughts and food shortages