Climate change: what is it and what's the problem

Hello,

I've noticed that we are always mentioning climate change. Not only us blog editors but also politicians, activists and so on. The words climate change are bounced around in the media and probably in your households, but do you actually know what it is or how it works? I know that for a long time, I didn't know what it really meant. I hope that this post changes that.

What is climate change and how does it work?

The words climate change describe a slow shift in the earth's temperature and changes in the weather patterns. Having a single warm winter does not instantly mean climate change. Climate change happens over a long period of time. If you look at a temperature graph over the years, it doesn't go up in one day and then stay the same for another hundred years. It curves up slowly but steadily.

This is a average temperature graph from 1880 to just after 2000. You can see how the temperature gradually gets warmer.

But why is it getting warmer?

Well, that's because of the greenhouse effect.

What's the greenhouse effect? What has climate change got to do with a greenhouse?

The greenhouse effect has nothing to do with actual greenhouses. The greenhouse effect works like this.

The warmth from the sun hits the earth's atmosphere.
Some of it reflects of the atmosphere, back into space and is irrelevant for us.
The rest of the sun's warmth comes in through the atmosphere.
Some of the warmth stays in the clouds.
The rest of it comes all the way down to earth.
Some of the warmth gets absorbed by the earth.
The rest of it gets reflected back into the atmosphere.
Some of the warmth doesn't make it out of the atmosphere. That's because of greenhouse gases. They keep the warmth in the atmosphere.
It gets warmer on earth.

Greenhouse gases include:

Water vapor
Carbon dioxide (CO2)
Methane
And many more

But the greenhouse effect isn't a bad thing. Greenhouse gases aren't bad things either. The greenhouse effect is natural. In fact, if the greenhouse effect didn't exist, the average temperature on earth would be -18°C rather than +15°C! So what's the problem?

There wasn't a problem, until humans started producing more greenhouse gases. The more greenhouse gases there are, the more warmth gets trapped in the atmosphere. And the more warmth get stuck in the atmosphere, the warmer it gets.

And that is climate change and how it works. It isn't actually that difficult. The problem is, what is does to our earth.

What's wrong with the earth warming up?

So the fact that the earth is warming up, may sound quite nice. But it definitely isn't nice in the long run! Here's a list of just a few of the things that climate change is doing:

1. Wildfires (because everything is drying up)

2. Rising sea levels (because the Artic and the Antarctic are melting into the ocean)

3. Deadly heatwaves (70 000 people died from a heatwave in Europe in 2003)

4. Floods (because glaciers are melting and the excess water is flowing into rivers)

5. Extreme weather (droughts, storms, heavy rainfall, …)

6. Ocean warming up (kills marine plants and animals)

So the earth warming up is just as bad as another ice age.

How do we stop the earth from warming up?

So the most obvious one is to stop emitting CO2. In fact we have a post with the different ways to slow CO2 emissions. However there are so many other ways to slow climate change.

Don't buy products containing palm oil.

Rainforests are being cut down to make space for palm oil plantations. Trees absorb CO2 so cutting them down is a bad idea.

Go on climate change protests

Ok, so this is probably a bad idea with Covid-19 still at large. But when the protests do start up again, make your voice heard. There are plenty of petitions going around if you don't want to go on an actual protest.

Reduce the amount of meat you eat

Again, rainforests are being chopped down to create space for pigs and cows. Also Methane is created in the stomachs of cattle. Methane is another greenhouse gas. It's effects are much worse than CO2. And the animals that we eat are usually kept in bad living conditions and suffer their whole lives long. It's as if they aren't even alive, they are just there for us to kill.

Our planet is dying and if we don't do something about it, we will die with it. This isn't right. How are governments still ignoring the signs? It's as if they only care about money and power. Is that true? Do they just want the money and the power?

Sources:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24021772
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change
https://www.epa.gov/climatechange-science/basics-climate-change

Images:
Ice: This image, owned by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Temperature graph: This image, owned by Matt Lemmon (on flickr.com), is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
Palm oil: This image is owned by Ihsan Adityawarman on pexels.com.
Climate protest: This image is owned by Markus Spiske on pexels.com.

Comments

16.08.2020 Animal of the week: Elephant

Hello. On the 12th of August it was International Elephant Day, so we decided that this week's post should be about elephants. Elephants are the largest living land mammals. There are three types of elephant; the African bush elephant; the African forest elephant and the Asian elephant. African elephants have larger ears, whereas Asian elephants have smaller ears. Elephants use their trunks to breath, bring food and drink to their mouths and to grasp objects. Elephants' legs are like pillars. They carry the Elephant's massive weight. African bush elephants weigh 6000kg, Asian elephants weigh 4000kg and African forest elephants weigh 2700kg. Basically, they are very heavy.Elephants eat grasses, small plants, bushes, fruit, twigs, tree bark, and roots. Elephants can live up to 70 years old in the wild. They communicate by sight, touch and smell. Sadly, these wonderful mammals are in danger. African elephants are listed as vulne...

November Top Tips | sustainable activities and hobbies

Hello everyone, So this week, we are going to be talking about sustainable free time activities. This area can quite big when it comes to environmental impact, so here are some things that you can do in your free time, that are more sustainable. 1. Reading So reading is one of our favourite things to do. However, books are made of paper and the paper industry isn't great. Some ways you can get around this is by reading online (for example, on a kindle), or through borrowing books from a library or using book boxes. If there aren't any in your area then at least try to support independent bookshops! 2. Running If you love being active then this one is for you. Running is probably one of the most sustainable forms of sport. All you need are some running shoes and somewhere to run. There is obviously more high-tech gear but that isn't really necessary if it's just a hobby. 3. Gardening If you've got a small area of land o...

Carbon credits

Hi everyone, Welcome back to Green World! Today we're talking about an industry that has expanded massively in the past few years. Carbon credits are one of the measures that companies are taking to reduce CO2 emissions . But how does it actually work? The companies that sell carbon credits fund projects to protect an area of forest or rainforest from deforestation . They then calculate how much carbon dioxide emissions they have saves by protecting this area. This means they can now sell 'negative carbon emissions' to companies. In this way, the companies are funding the protection of said area and are causing negative emissions while doing so meaning that the company can still emit greenhouse gases but can claim to be net zero. One carbon credit is basically the permission to emit one ton of CO2. This is good for the company as well as they are able to advertise as sustainable at a relatively low cost to actually reducing the...

January Top Tips // 5 ways you can individually tackle climate change

Hi Everyone! This is the first of our new monthly posts for 2022! We will be sharing top tips every month, near the beginning, for things you can do during that month for the better. It's almost like a whole year of new year's resolutions (though let's hope they are achieved)! In these posts, we aren't just going to talk about climate change , of course, there will also be posts about animals , plants, habitats, plastic pollution and so much more! They will not be huge tips though, they won't demand too much of you (usually!). We need rebellions and people in the public eye spreading the word of course but we also need people like you, who can just do their bit. So, welcome to our top tips posts! We all know that we need to come together to fight the climate crisis, but we don't seem to be doing that right now. So here are our top tips for ways you can individually tackle climate change, even if this means simply spreading ...

Wildfires

Welcome back to Green World, In the last few months, wildfires have been raging across the globe. Hawaii, Canada, the USA, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Tunisia and countless more have been affected. But what are the environmental impacts of such a blaze? The USA has had an average of over 70 000 wildfires a year since 2000. In 2020, Californian wildfires emitted more than 90 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is more than the state's power industry emits per year. It is estimated that humans start 87% of wildfires. Around the world, 4 million squ. km are hit by wildfires every single year. This emits vast amounts of carbon dioxide, which fuels climate change . The smoke causes air pollution in the entire surrounding area and can lead to respiratory problems in humans. The air pollution also kills birds, including those migrating through the area. Studies also show that socially vulnerable populations are more at risk of harm...

Rachel Carson 1907-1964

Hi everybody, Today I am going to tell you about a really inspirational environmentalist. Her name is Rachel Carson. I hope her story inspires you to be more careful about pesticides. As a girl, Rachel adored writing stories about animals. She got a degree in zoology but had to go home to care for her ageing mother. She wrote a series of radio shows about fish for a living. Rachel's program, called 'Romance Under Waters', was a big hit. Her ways of writing were different to anyone else and no one had made that sound so interesting before. It proved that she was talented in not only science but also writing. She wrote two books called 'The Sea Around Us' and 'The Edge Of The Sea'. When Rachel moved to the countryside, she realized the impact of pesticides. At that time farmers sprayed chemicals on their fields a lot to protect them from animals that may want to eat them. Rachel worked out that they were killing pla...

Animals 26-30 in our '50 incredible animals' series

Hello, Welcome back. We're very sorry for missing last week's animals. We've all had a busy time with school work! 26. Blue glaucus Also known as the blue dragon, the blue glaucus is a type of sea slug. They are small, rarely growing longer than 3cm long. Their favourite food is probably the most bizarre thing about them, Portuguese man o' war. Now, for those of you who don't already know, the Portuguese man o' war is one of the most dangerous jellyfish in the world! Different sites have different opinions, but almost all agree that blue glaucus do not hunt the Portuguese man o' war, instead they feed on dead ones or nibble away at living one! But that's still rather impressive. 27. Shoebill Shoebills are very patient and able to stay still for hours. That's how they hunt. When a lungfish comes up for air, they often don't notice the shoebill standing there until it's too late. Shoebill...

Coral reefs

Hello! We would love to introduce you to the topic of coral reefs and especially coral reef bleaching, as it is a greatly ignored but certainly significant topic. Have fun! 5 coral reef facts 1. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on the planet and is 2300 km long! 2. Less than 0.1% of the world's ocean surface is covered in coral reefs. 3. At least 25% of all marine animals live there. 4. Coral reefs are often known as the rainforests of the ocean. 5. In 1 square kilometre of coral reef, up to 35 tons of fish can be 'produced'. The 5 biggest coral reefs in the world 1. Great Barrier Reef (near Australia) 2. Red Sea Coral Reef (near Egypt, Israel and Djibouti) 3. New Caledonia Reef (Pacific Ocean near New Caledonia) 4. The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef (near Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras) 5. Florida Reef (Atlantic Ocean/Gulf of Mexico near Florida) What is coral? Coral is actually made up of small anim...

The life of ... a cicada

Hi everyone, We're back to talk about another animal. Cicadas ( Cicadoidea ) are invertebrates and are 1.9cm to 5.7cm in size. There are 3 000 species that can be divided into annual cicadas and periodical cicadas. Annual cicadas can be seen annually and are found worldwide whereas periodical cicadas only leave the ground every decade or two and are only found in North America with hotspots in the eastern and central areas of the United States. Most annual cicadas have a lifespan of about two to five years and periodical cicadas can live up to the age of 17. Female cicadas lay around 400 eggs split up over several places. They normally lay their eggs on twigs, branches or other vegetation. The eggs hatch after about six to ten weeks, now known as nymphs, and dig their way into the soil. The nymphs feed on the liquids found in plant roots. They fully develop underground, before molting their shells and coming to the surface, now fully deve...

Turning waste into valuables

Hi, So this post was requested on Twitter after our September Top Tips about recycling . Today we will be talking about how to turn complete waste into something reasonably valuable. This is basically a form of upcycling but to a more extreme level. 1. Ecobricks So, almost a year ago we did a post about ecobricks , but they are such a good example of turning waste into valuables that we decided to put it here anyway. Ecobricks are a building material made from plastic. The waste plastic is washed and then compacted into a clean plastic bottle (also waste). The bottle becomes very hard and durable. Multiple bottles can then be used as bricks and cemented together. The 'bricks' are strong and do not decompose. For more info, read our post where we go into more detail. 2. Metals Although this may seem like something not worth the time. When you separate the metals in waste (for example an old car), you can get usable metal out ...

Green World

Search This Blog