IS THE EARTH'S CLIMATE REALLY CHANGING? CAUSES AND EFFECTS EXPLAINED
Hi Steemians, welcome to my blog. You must have been hearing of climate change but don’t really know the side to support. Some people believe that climate change is real while others think it is just a child’s play. When President Donald Trump resumed office as the president of the United States of America, one of the first things he did was to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change, and revoked the climate regulations put in place by the Obama’s administration calling climate change a scam! Perhaps you are also thinking of going down that road, but before you take your final decision, take your time to finish reading this article and have a reflection.
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WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE?
Climate change is not just a change in the weather condition of a place. Weather is the average atmospheric condition of a place at a particular time. To break it down, it is the prevailing condition of a place. It could be raining, sunny, hot or cold. They are the changes in the atmospheric condition we see and feel. Climate change is a global phenomenon. Let’s even call it Earth climate to be more specific. Although it is plausible here to state that it has a very significant effect on weather but its effect goes beyond that. Numerous reports in the scientific literature indicates that in the coming decades the world will witness higher temperatures and changing precipitation levels. Since the turn of the 21st century, record shows that 16 of the 17 warmest years have occurred in this century. This represents an alarming rate given the fact that we are not even half way into the century. Years 2016 was marked as the hottest year in the new millennium. I smiled with this statement because I fear the hottest year is yet to come. Climate is said to be the usual weather of a place. It varies from season to season. Can we still say it is still usual? There has been a continuous decrease in rainfall, many times we can no longer differentiate seasons form season as the condition is close to being the same. There has also been an increase in precipitation level and you still think climate change is a scam?
Climate change engulfs global warming (increase in global temperature) and also the increase in greenhouse gases which depletes the ozone layer. The Earth’s temperature is continuously rising and it has not stopped since I have known it. Experts have also said that the Earth’s climate has increased by about 1 degree Fahrenheit in the last 100 years (If not more).
There are signatures of climate change everywhere; if you look carefully you will see. Come to sub-Saharan Africa, we have been witnessing a very hot month since this year began. It took almost the end of December 2017 before we could witness Harmattan here in the western part of Nigeria. A condition that is very unusual.
In a recent memorandum released by the Nigeria Metrological Agency (NIMET), dated 7th February, 2018, Nigerians have been warn to prepare for more hot days and warm night ahead.
If you live in Nigeria, you will not be oblivious of the fact that we have been experiencing very hot weather since the beginning of the year. Sometimes it gets so hot that you can feel the knock of the Sun on your head. Like a light joke I usually pass by saying ‘this Sun is made in Heaven.’
During this period, you are advised to drink more water to keep you hydrated, avoid alcoholic drinks as much as you can, reduce the intake of food substances that are very rich in protein as this increases your body metabolic rate and therefore generate heat within your body, eat lots of fresh foods, fruits and vegetables, avoid walking under the Sun between noon and 3pm and ensure you take a cold bath before going to bed.
WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE?
I did a research into the solar-geomagnetic forcing of the Earth’s climate and found out that it is plausible that there have been some level of contribution from the solar and geomagnetic activities that drives changes we have been experiencing in the Earth’s climate. Albeit, the major contributor still remains anthropogenic factors which are usually man made factors.
MAN MADE FACTORS
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Man in bits to make life better, has done so many a time, at the expense of other creatures and the planet Earth. Except NASA has concluded her findings in Mars and has said we can all relocate, I fear we have no other home yet. The Earth has in times past been able to protect us from various harmful radiations, but man has succeeded in depleting this very protector-the ozone layer. We therefore need to take proactive steps and be more deliberate in our actions at tackling climate change. We need to stop the release of greenhouse gases (GHG). The emitted greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO2), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), Methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N20) among others. CO2 currently contributes the highest rate of the greenhouse gases followed by CH4, CFCs N2O and others (like halons, tropospheric ozone, sulphuric hexafluoride (SF6) among others).
EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate change has and will continue to have effect on agriculture, biodiversity, health and sanitation, human settlement energy etc.
EFFECT ON AGRICULTURE
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Climate change has made its mark on agriculture. Crops no longer grow well due to the decrease in rainfall. The weather we experience in seasons has been changing. Rough estimates suggest that over the next 50 years or so, climate change may likely have a serious threat to meeting global food demand.
EFFECT ON BIODIVERSITY
Increased aridity, increased intensity and variability of rainfall, and sea level rise all have impacts on organisms, species, and habitats. Climate change can also lead to loss of livelihoods leading to increased dependence on biodiversity for income. Climate change may also lead to the displacement of valuable ecosystems, by displacing species which could not cope with the new climate regime and invading species that are favored by it.
HEALTH AND SANITATION
There has been adverse effect of climate change on water resources especially in developing countries. This will lead to poor sanitation and hygiene of people. There is also a possibility of climate change leading to malnutrition and a result of its effect on food production.
WHAT CAN BE DONE?
Everyone has a part to play as everyone is a stakeholder. Developing countries are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and must, as a matter of urgency, take steps to reduce its vulnerability, build its resilience and build its adaptive capacity.
THE ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT
The governments of most countries are making a lot of effort to tackle climate change. However, I feel a lot is still left undone by the government. This involves every tiers of government. Every policy should be evaluated and its impact on climate change should be weighed and appropriate measures taken before its passage. The government needs to put the environment into strict consideration. Environmental policies need to be strictly enforced, and defaulters persecuted in the court of law. A yearly evaluation of the progress made and the areas left to be tackled should be considered. The government also needs to set up a special taskforce on environmental issues to monitor companies and any organization that are constantly emitting GHG and make them pay heavily. The government should thrive to fund researches on alternative sources of raw materials with less GHG evolution by companies.
THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR
The private sector has a lot to do in reducing the impact of climate change. These stakeholders must accept responsibility and take action on climate change, including efforts to collaborate with international partners. They must also work to enable adaptation by removing or surmounting obstacles, such as a high population growth rate, pervasive poverty, lack of relevant knowledge, limited access to technology, a weak institutional framework, degraded natural resources, inadequate financial resources, a high level of social marginalization, and poor governance. These stakeholders must provide the populace with a vision, a policy framework, a legal framework, and specific climate change adaptation interventions. They must act as catalysts in the process of climate change adaptation. Also, universities and research institutions also have a key role in making result driven researches on charting the way forward.
THE ROLE OF THE INDIVIDUAL
The first thing to be done by individuals is to get informed. As the saying goes “information is power”, it is imperative for individuals to be well informed on the subject of climate change. Also, individuals and communities need to green your commute to reduce the emission of GHGs to the atmosphere. Transportation causes more than 25 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, you can use alternative means such as bicycles, walking and going by public transportation. People in Africa, especially in urban areas, need to be encouraged to go car free. If it is imperative you go with a car, try carpooling or car sharing, and use the smallest, most fuel-efficient vehicle possible. Furthermore, individuals need to be energy efficient. Change light bulbs to compact fluorescents or LEDs. Unplug computers, TVs and other electronics when not in use. Wash clothes in cold or warm (not hot) water. Buy organic and locally grown foods. Avoid processed items. Grow some of your own food. And eat low on the food chain since 18 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions come from meat and dairy production.
Do not bury your waste. Garbage buried in landfills produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
References:
DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (DFID) (2006). How climate change threatens the world’s poor. Development Issues, 25: 8-9.
NIMET (2018). Nigeria Climate memorandum. Nigerian Meteorological Agency. February 2018. NIMET.