What do you think of the unpredictable weather conditions all over the world? Are they not signs that our climate has gone berserk?
Presently, the level of heat in my country, Nigeria, is so high it feels like we are burning up literally. When the rain falls like once a week, it's a temporary reprieve before the heat starts building up again. This is as a result of the rise in global temperatures and depleted ozone layers. Also, we have noticed an erratic change in weather conditions all over the world. These are basically a result of climate change.
Some people believe climate change is not real and merely a myth. But information, erratic weather changes and exposure has shown that it is real. The faster we address the problem, the better for human kind.
What Is Climate Change?
The subject of climate change is one that touches on the fabric of our existence as humans vis-à-vis our planet. Climate change is another word for long term weather patterns such as rainfall, snow, humidity etc and these patterns are subject to changes.
According to NASA, climate change is “a broad range of global phenomena created predominantly by burning fossil fuels, which add heat-trapping gases to Earth’s atmosphere. These phenomena include the increased temperature trends described by global warming, but also encompass changes such as sea-level rise; ice mass loss in Greenland, Antarctica, the Arctic and mountain glaciers worldwide; shifts in flower/plant blooming; and extreme weather events.”
This means our weather patterns are determinants of our survival as living beings. When the patterns change and go haywire as we have been witnessing in recent times, then things like storms, typhoons, floods etc happen. People lose their lives, properties are destroyed, plants and vegetation die. Do these consequences of climate change not threaten our existence?
Causes Of Climate Change
For as long as I can remember, we have been taught that our activities such as the mass release of atmospheric carbon dioxide, especially by the burning of fossil fuels, will unbalance our climate and negatively affect the earth. When this happens, the future of mankind is at serious risk. I believe we are living in such precarious times.
An aspect of climate change to consider is global warming, though the term is used interchangeably with climate change. Global warming is the rise of global temperatures as a result of increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This means climate change is the long-term consequences of this warming like rainstorms, droughts, hurricanes etc
The increase in temperature worldwide affects not only humans but our entire planet ecosystem.
Reduce/Reverse Global Temperatures
As our weather patterns are changing aggressively, it means that cyclones, storms, floods and drought are most likely to happen in the next few years all over the world. How can we reduce global temperatures? By reducing the rate at which we burn fossil fuels and switching to renewable energy. That is, energies that are naturally replenished such as sunlight, wind, rain, geothermal heat etc.
I believe the world is adopting renewable energy sources already especially in the developed countries while the developing ones are gradually coming into it. In my country, some homes and businesses now make use of solar energy.
We need to embrace it fully to drastically reduce global temperatures and save our planet. Renewable energy means cleaner air and water for both humans and vegetation, there will be less carbon emissions and our fuel supply will not run out easily.
This is my entry to the EcoTrain Question Of The Week, Season 10.2. To participate, click on the link and have your say on climate change matters.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Reference
Image 1: Gael Gaborel on Unsplash, edited with Canva
Image 2: Chris LeBoutiller on Unsplash
Image 3: Carl Kho on Unsplash