Recently, global warming and climate change became a controversial topic.
Some countries even claim that global warming and climate change are not real.
However, science has revealed over and over again that it is a real and serious issue that needs to be addressed immediately.
The Earth’s atmosphere has more than 415ppm CO2 for the first time in 3 million years.
Although Earth’s climate has altered in the past, CO2 never hit today’s level.
Human activities that emit greenhouse gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbon caused rise in our planet’s average temperature.
The global average temperature increase between 0.6°C to 0.9°C between 1906 and 2005.
In the last 50 years, the speed of temperature increase doubled. There is no doubt that the temperature is rising in an alarming rate.
Humankind are in danger from climate change, extinction of species and loss of natural resources.
How does CO2 levels cause global warming?
When fossil fuels such as oil and coal are burned, CO2 is released to the atmosphere.
The amount of fossil fuels used to power stations, produce electricity, and heat homes caused an alarming rise of CO2 .
These CO2 molecules trap heat released by the land and seas. Therefore, the increase of CO2 allows more heat to be trapped, leading to an increase of the Earth’s temperature.
Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is like a blanket that traps heat inside Earth’s atmosphere.
This is called the greenhouse effect, which is important to maintain earth’s temperature to sustain life.
Without the greenhouse effect, the average temperature on Earth would be -180 °C.
However, human activities contributes an exceeding amount of CO2 , causing global warming.
Global Warming VS Climate Change
Some people may use the words ‘global warming’ and ‘climate change’ interchangeably.
The next time you use them, remember that they have different meanings.
Global warming refers to the unusually increase of temperature worldwide mainly caused by human activity such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation.
Climate change is the changes of the earth’s temperature over a long term.
It is not just the changes of temperature, but also precipitation patterns, heat waves and shifting of wildlife populations.
That is to say, global warming causes climate change.
What Causes Climate Change?
Burning of Fossil Fuels
80% of our Earth’s energy comes from fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas.
We rely on these gases to run our vehicles, create electricity and power industry.
What you may not realise is our daily usage releases CO2 into the atmosphere.
The process of burning fossil fuels combines carbon with oxygen in the air, increasing the CO2 levels in the atmosphere.
Deforestation
Deforestation is the second major contributor to global warming.
Research found that deforestation in tropical rainforests releases more CO2 in the atmosphere than the number of cars and trucks in the entire world.
In some countries such as Brazil and Indonesia, deforestation is their main cause of national greenhouse gas emissions.
Plants and trees play a vital role in maintaining the climate by absorbing CO2 and producing oxygen.
They act as an oxygen tank for a diver underwater.
Although they help humans sustain life, we get rid of them to build infrastructures, farm or sell them as products.
The process of deforestation releases stored carbon back into the atmosphere as CO2.
Deforestation contributes to 24% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
Population Increase
During the 20th century, the human population increased from 1.6 billion to 6.1 billion people.
There is no doubt that population growth leads to more consumption of natural resources.
These oil, gas, coal and other fuels negatively impacts the CO2 levels in the atmosphere.
At this rate, the population is predicted to exceed 9 billion over the next 50 years. The limited resources will eventually run out.
I hope you realise that climate change is an urgent problem that needs to be recognised worldwide.
Our planet is in danger and it’s our responsibility to protect it.
There will be negative consequences if no action is taken to save our planet.
You can read about how climate change affects your life here.
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