Climate change is already happening.
It’s affecting us right now, and it will continue to affect us in the future. While there are some who debate whether climate change is taking place, most scientists agree that humans are causing global warming by releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere through burning fossil fuels like coal and oil.
Weather VS Climate
The effects of climate change are often in the news but it’s important not to confuse weather with climate. Weather refers to day-to-day changes in temperature and precipitation while climate refers to long-term averages over multiple decades or centuries.
Climate change is a complex issue, and it can be difficult to understand all the ways it affects us and our environment. But there are some things we do know: climate change is not just about the weather; it’s a global problem, and humans are causing it.
Climate change isn’t about an unusually hot summer day or an unexpected blizzard, it’s about long-term effects of greenhouse gases (like carbon dioxide) that influence our planet’s temperature in ways that make it hotter than it was before humans started burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas on a massive scale in the late 1800s.
The impact of global warming
A study published in March 2016 estimates that if greenhouse gases continue rising at current rates, by 2100 Earth will warm between 3°C and 5°C. This would have major effects on our food supply, water resources, coastal cities, and ecosystems – and even our health. The researchers found this range of possible outcomes based on dozens of different climate models, but all the models agree on one thing – We are currently headed for a warm future with more extreme weather events such as heat waves and droughts.
In 2022 we saw considerable changes to the environment. There were wide-spread droughts, heatwaves and wildfires. Many areas experienced the hottest temperatures on record, and experts believe that 2023 is likely to once again be extremely hot across the globe.
How can we prevent disastrous changes?
The good news is that we can still reduce emissions enough to prevent this level of warming from happening but doing so requires immediate action from governments around the world along with individuals who make choices about their energy consumption every day.
As a consumer, you can act by reducing your consumption of fossil fuels. For example, if you drive a car, try to use public transport, or ride a bike wherever possible. You can also use renewable energy sources such as solar power or wind power instead of burning coal. If you don’t have control over your electricity supply at home, investigate switching providers to one that offers green energy plans.
When it comes to heating and cooling your home, if possible, try using less electricity through better insulation, particularly in older houses which may have drafty windows or doors. Or install more efficient appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines and dryers which use less electricity than older models would require for the same jobs. Also try reducing meat intake by eating more plant-based foods, this will reduce both carbon emissions from livestock farming while helping cut down on greenhouse gases caused by deforestation too!
Climate change is a global problem, but it’s also a personal one. In some ways, climate change is already affecting all of us: our water supply, food production and air quality are already impacted by a changing climate. But these problems will only worsen as the weather gets more extreme and unpredictable. Just like we can’t stop an earthquake from happening when the tectonic plates underneath our city shift, we can’t stop all the effects of climate change from coming to pass; we can only do what we can to prepare for them and mitigate their impact on us as individuals and as communities.
