The global effects of climate change are very painful! If you’re also worried about global warming, you’re definitely not alone.
The world is always getting warmer due to human activities, and climate change now threaten all aspects of human life. If these changes are not controlled, human and nature will face catastrophic global warming. This will be accompanied by intensifying drought, further sea level rise and mass extinction of species.
Warming is not just an environmental problem. This problem affects all aspects of our lives. That is why our answer to this problem must be comprehensive.
Evidence suggests that the main cause of climate crisis is the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal. When burned, fossil fuels release carbon dioxide into the air, causing the earth to heat up.
Farmers around the world who are affected by heat waves are familiar with this phenomenon. The number of victims has increased due to heatstroke.
For those who have lost their homes due forest fires in southern Europe and the United States, global warming has long been a reality. But is it really too late to prevent catastrophic global effects of climate change?
What is climate change definition?
Climate change refers to long-term changes in temperature and normal climate patterns in a particular region or Earth’s surface. Throughout the Earth’s history, the climate has changed steadily and slowly over hundreds and thousands of years. But it is now occurring at a much faster rate due to human activities and global effects of climate change affect all humans.
The Earth’s climate has been changing since it forming around 4.5 years ago. Until recently, natural factors contributed to these changes. Natural effects on the climate include volcanic eruptions, changes in the Earth’s orbit, and changes in the Earth’s crust.
Over the past million years, the Earth has experienced a series of ice ages and warmer “interglacial” periods. Glacial and interglacial periods occur approximately every 100,000 years due to changes in the Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
For the past several thousand years, the Earth has been at a constant temperature between glaciations. However, since the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, the Earth’s temperature has risen much faster. By burning fossil fuels and Land use changing, human activities have rapidly led to major causes of climate crisis.
Storms, floods, droughts, and severe forest fires all indicate unusual high-velocity changes in the Earth’s atmosphere. Global effects of climate change and global warming have become one of the most important environmental challenges today. Affecting all countries of the world, and tackling these changes requires global action.
The global effects of climate change
Onset of the Industrial Revolution in the 1850s and consumption of fossil fuels increased the level of “carbon dioxide”. Rising levels of carbon dioxide are the main cause of global warming.
Climate change can make it difficult and impossible to predict climate patterns. And these unexpected climate patterns can make it difficult to maintain and grow crops in areas that rely on agriculture.
Why? because they can no longer meet the expected temperature and rainfall.
Global warming is also associated with other destructive weather events such as frequent and more severe storms, floods, rain and winter storms. Global warming may occur as part of natural processes such as fluctuations in sunlight intensity, deviations in the Earth’s path and volcanic activity. The climate after the Industrial Revolution and the increasing consumption of fossil fuels are increasingly under the impact of human activities.
The main climate change causes
The cause of current effects of climate change is mainly human activities such as burning fossil fuels, such as natural gas, oil and coal, which emit greenhouse gases into the Earth’s atmosphere. These gases trap the heat of the sun’s radiation inside the atmosphere and cause the earth’s average temperature to rise. This increase in global temperature is called “global warming”.
The world’s attention to climate crisis and global warming has increased more than ever since 1992, following the UN Convention on Climate Change. Which aims to stabilize the amount of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere to prevent future global effects of climate change.
In 2015, 174 countries and the European Union ratified the Paris Agreement within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The purpose of the Paris Agreement is to control global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preventing global warming by more than 2 degrees Celsius. This agreement trying to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Currently 197 countries are members of these international treaties.
The destructive impact of human activities on global effects of climate change
Environmental researchers warn of the devastating impact of human action on climate crisis in a report released by the United Nations. Researchers called the situation critical “an expression of the bitter reality of the planet’s condition” for its inhabitants.
The report discusses the devastating effect of continuous greenhouse gas emissions on global warming. Its authors warn that a two-meter rise in sea levels by the end of the century due to the melting of polar ice caps could not be ruled out.
Environmentalists say the report is a “huge wake-up call” to governments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The first important point of the report is that the earth is getting warmer. The rate of this heating today is 1.2 degrees Celsius higher than when the Industrial Revolution began.
Second, this warming is largely the result of fossil fuel consumption. Consumption of fossil fuels and other human economic activities releases more than 40 billion tons of greenhouse gases into the Earth’s atmosphere each year.
Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, nearly 2.4 trillion tons of greenhouse gases have entered the Earth’s atmosphere.
When human use fossil fuels to generate energy and forests are cut down, greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere.
some of main human causes of climate change:
- Burning fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal contain carbon dioxide
- Deforestation and Cutting Forests down
- Planting crops and rearing animals
- Producing cement are
Greenhouse gases and their effects on climate crisis
Greenhouse gases are one of the most dangerous climate change factors. It is a common name for gases such as carbon dioxide, methane nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons.
Greenhouse gases absorb long-wavelength radiation emitted from the earth and prevent the planet from cooling down. But excessive accumulation of these gases as a result of climate crisis and industrialization of societies can have negative effects. It cause Excessive global warming that could lead to the extinction of thousands of plant and animal species.
Increasing the amount of greenhouse gases causes climate change. By absorbing infrared radiation, these gases control the natural flow of energy by changing the climate. The climate system is adjusted in response to the emission of greenhouse gases with a thick coating of these gases. It maintain a balance between energy received from the sun and energy returned to space.
The fact is that the emissions of greenhouse gases have intensified global effects of climate change. Weather change rapidly with the release of gases. This change will continue for hundreds of years. It can be said detect some important effects of climate crisis such as rising sea levels take a long time. Even though if the release of gases and their concentration at the surface of the atmosphere stops.
The main reason for greenhouse gas emissions
Greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere as a result of human activities.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced when fossil fuels are used to generate energy and forests are cut down and burned.
Methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are also released as a result of agricultural activities, land use change and other sources.
Industrial chemicals such as halocarbons (CFCS9, HCFS, and PFCS9) and other long-lived gases such as sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) are released as a result of industrial activity.
The main greenhouse gases are:
- water vapor
- carbon dioxide (CO2)
- tropospheric ozone (O3)
- methane (CH4)
- nitrous oxide (N2O)
- industrial gases (halocarbons)
- and so on.
Except for industrial gases, the rest are produced naturally and together make up less than one percent of atmospheric gases. This amount of gas is more than the temperature necessary for life on Earth to create a greenhouse effect and maintain the natural temperature of the Earth at about 30 degrees Celsius.
The level of the main greenhouse gases, including water vapor is increasing directly due to human activities.
- Emissions of carbon dioxide (due to burning coal, oil and natural gas)
- methane and nitrous oxide (due to agricultural activities and land use change)
- tropospheric ozone (due to car exhaust fumes and other sources
- and long-lived industrial gases, including chlorofluorocarbons (CFCS), hydrofluorocarbons (HCFS), and perfluorocarbons (PFCS)
cause changes in how energy is absorbed by the atmosphere. These changes are taking place and are therefore known as greenhouse effect enhancers.
The global effects of climate change: How will different parts of the world be affected by?
Scientists warn that if greenhouse gas emissions are not controlled, the situation will be much worse and more unpredictable.
The amount of heat increase from 1.2 degrees Celsius should not reach two degrees. Reaching two thresholds has been described as dangerous and can cause severe and unpredictable reactions in nature.
Global warming threatens food and economic security for billions of people and has dangerous political and social consequences.
Scientists predict that if greenhouse gases are not controlled, the earth may reach the two-degree threshold by 2030.
This volume of greenhouse gases has caused the world to face severe climate fluctuations such as droughts, storms and floods. From fires to floods, it causes a great deal of human and financial damage to the world economy every year.
The oceans and their habitats are also at risk. The loss of half of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef corals due to warming seas because of global effects of climate change is one big event.
Scientists believe that if no action is taken, at least 550 species of animals may become extinct due to lack of food and water needed for life.
As the earth warms more, some areas may become uninhabitable due to the conversion of agricultural land into a desert. And in some areas there may be severe flooding due to heavy rainfall.
As a result, Britain and Europe will be vulnerable to floods caused by heavy rains. The Middle East will be vulnerable to extreme heat waves.
Island nations in the Pacific may disappear under the seas. And many African countries are likely to suffer from drought and food shortages.
If the earth’s temperature continues to rise, almost all hot-water coral reefs may disappear.
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Climate change solutions: What can governments and individuals do?
Atmospheric studies warn in a recent report that 10 million people will die from “severe temperatures”. It isnecessary that world leaders fail to reach an agreement to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Researchers also point out that under these conditions, agricultural production may decrease by about 30 percent by 2050. while the amount of food needed by the expanding population will increase by 50 percent.
The development of renewable energy has always been considered as one of the solutions to deal with greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently we can decrease global effects of climate change and global warming. Many developed countries have begun long-term measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 50 percent by 2030.
In addition to controlling greenhouse gases, resilience and the adoption of measures and policies that reduce vulnerability to climate change, can be effective and practical in combating global warming.
Water resource management for drought seasons and the protection of forests and biodiversity are among the factors that their mismanagement in countries such as Iraq, Iran, India and many other countries has doubled the global effects of climate change.
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Take the future in your hands
It is difficult for many people to adapt their daily lifestyles to climate crisis. According to researchers, we need a radical change that is far from a consumption-based economy. We should also be aware of the limited resources of our planet.
Instead of fearing, we should visualize the future in which we want to live and work.
But can climate protectors realize their vision for the future? It depends on how the climate is developing and simultaneously how we are evolving as a global community.
Of course, the worst-case scenarios can not be ignore. Meaning a world with a catastrophic climate, rising sea levels, disorder and war. We have to act anyway and fear should not be our motivation. What motivates us should be that Earth has been the best planet ever and there is no such second great planet.
Frequently asked questions
1- What is climate change exactly?
Any natural or artificial change in the Earth’s surface climate or a specific region. It means any specific change in the expected patterns of the average climate, which occurs over a long period of time in a particular region or for the entire global climate.
2- What are the global Effects of Climate Change and global warming?
Rising maximum and minimum temperatures, rising sea levels, higher ocean temperatures, melting of the polar caps, warming oceans, heavy rain and hail, frequent and intense drought, storms, heat waves and so on.
3- How do we solve climate change?
Measures such as widespread use of bicycles in cities, lower energy consumption, revision of the diet and switching to vegetarian diets, tree planting, non-use of insecticides and plastic bags, less waste production, Preparing compost from food scraps, etc. can counteract these changes and slow them down.
4- What are main causes of climate change?
The use of fossil fuels, Deforestation, non- recyclable waste and packaging, Burning coal in Power Plants, Oil drilling, transportation Vehicles, Factory farming, The chemicals and materials used within industrialization, changing the way land is used and Overfishing are 10 main causes of global warming.
