Is climate change real? Yes, It’s so real that you can see the changes by your observance. Glaciers are melting, temperature is rising, weather is shifting, more often forest fires, what else you need to get the idea of Climate change. If you are not gonna fight against climate change, situation will get even worse in future.
What Is Climate? How Is It Different From Weather?
You might know what weather is. Weather is the changes we see and feel outside from day to day on daily basis. It might rain one day and be scorching sunny the next day. Sometimes it is cold. Sometimes it is hot. Weather also changes from place to place. People in one place might be wearing shorts and playing outside. At the same time, people far away might be covered with extremely warm clothes and enjoying snow.
Climate is the usual weather of a place. Climate can be different for different seasons. A place might be mostly warm and dry in the summer. The same place may be cool and wet in the winter. Different places can have different climates. You might live where it snows all the time. And some people live where it is always warm enough to swim outside.
There’s also Earth’s climate. Earth’s climate is what you get when you combine all the climates around the world together.
What Is Climate Change?
Climate change is a change in the usual weather found in a place. This could be a change in how much rain a place usually gets in a year. Or it could be a change in a place’s usual temperature for a month or season.
Climate change is also a change in Earth’s climate. This could be a change in Earth’s usual temperature. Or it could be a change in where rain and snow usually fall on Earth.
Weather can change in just a few hours. Climate takes hundreds or even millions of years to change.
Is Earth’s Climate Changing?
Earth’s climate is always changing. There have been times when Earth’s climate has been warmer than it is now. There have been times when it has been cooler. These times can last thousands or millions of years.
People who study Earth see that Earth’s climate is getting warmer. Earth’s temperature has gone up about one degree Fahrenheit in the last 100 years. This may not seem like much. But small changes in Earth’s temperature can have big effects.
Some effects are already happening. Warming of Earth’s climate has caused big glaciers and ice to melt. The warming also has caused oceans to rise. And it has changed the timing of when certain plants grow.
What Is Causing Earth’s Climate to Change?
Many things can cause climate to change all on its own. Earth’s distance from the sun can change. The sun can send out more or less energy. Oceans can change. When a volcano erupts, it can change our climate.
Most scientists say that humans can change climate too. People drive cars. People heat and cool their houses. People cook food. All those things take energy. One way we get energy is by burning coal, oil and gas. Burning these things puts gases into the air. The gases cause the air to heat up. This can change the climate of a place. It also can change Earth’s climate.
What Might Happen to Earth’s Climate
Scientists think that Earth’s temperature will keep going up for the next 100 years. This would cause more glaciers and ice to melt. Oceans would even rise higher. Some places would get hotter. Other places might have colder winters with more snow. Some places might get more rain. Other places might get less rain. Some places might have stronger hurricanes. Other places might have drought. It’s a serious issue people should think from now on.
Major actions to fight climate change you can do at your level
1. Reduce emissions
Use your car less, whenever possible, instead use sustainable transportation, such as bicycling, or use public transportation more often. In the case of long-distance travel, trains are more sustainable than airplanes, which cause a great deal of the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere. If you’re into cars, remember that every kilometer that you increase your speed will considerably increase CO2 emissions and expenses. According to the CE, each liter of fuel that your car uses, equals 2.5 kilos of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere.
2. Save energy
Take a look at the labels on your appliances, and never leave them on standby. Always adjust the thermostat for heating and air conditioning. By being careful how we use home appliances, we can save energy and, of course, money at the end of the month.
3. Put the 3 R’s of sustainability into practice
Reduce: consume less, more efficiently.
Reuse: take advantage of second-hand markets, to give new life to items that you don’t use anymore or find something that someone else has gotten rid of that you need. You’ll be saving money and reducing your consumption. Bartering is also a practical solution.
Recycle: packaging, waste from electronics, etc. Did you know that you can save over 730 kilos of CO2 each year just by recycling half of the garbage produced at home?
4. What about your diet? Eat low-carbon
A low-carbon diet results in smarter consumption:
Reduce your meat consumption (livestock is one of the biggest contaminators of the atmosphere) and increase your consumption of fruits and vegetables.
Eat food that is local and in season: read the label and eat food that is produced in the area, avoid imports which create more emissions due to transportation. Also, eat seasonal items, to avoid less sustainable production methods.
Avoid excessive packaging and processed foods as much as possible.
5. Act against forest loss
As far as possible, avoid anything that may be a fire hazard.
If you want to buy wood, choose wood with a certification or seal showing its sustainable origin.
Plant a tree! Throughout its life, it can absorb up to a ton of CO2.
6. Make demands from the government
Demand that they take measures toward a more sustainable life, any way that you can: promote renewable energy, regulatory measures such as properly labelling products (fishing method used, labels that specify product origins, whether or not they are transgenic, etc.), promote more sustainable public transportation, promote the use of bicycles and other non-polluting transportation methods in the city, correctly manage waste through recycling/reuse, etc.
The population has more power than it realizes to demand measures from governments to raise global awareness of the global warming problem.
Think globally, act locally. Your actions are needed in the fight against climate change.