What is it?
Climate change is how the Earth's temperatures and weather patterns shift over a long period of time. This can be natural, or human-induced. According to NASA, "Since the pre-industrial period, human activities are estimated to have increased Earth's temperature by about 1 degree Celsius, a number that is current increasing by more than 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade" (NASA, 2020). Human involvement in climate change stems from burning fossil fuels that create greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide and methane which essentially suffocate the Earth.
How have humans affected Climate Change?
Climate scientist Guy Callendar was the first to connect global temperature rise to carbon dioxide. According to UK Research and Innovation, "Callendar argued that carbon dioxide emissions from industry were responsible for global warming. However, this was largely ignored by other scientists who didn't believe that humans could impact such a large system as the climate" (UK Research and Innovation, 2022). Fast forwarding to the past decade, the UN states, "Climate scientists have showed that humans are responsible for virtually all global heating over the last 200 years" (UN, 2022).
Why does it matter?
The rate the Earth is heating results in climate-related hazards and health risks. These include but are not limited to, wildfires, rising sea levels, flooding, higher temperatures, drought, access to clean water and biodiversity loss. Climate change affects every person, and should be taken seriously. Learning about what you can do in your community to take climate action is the best way to participate in climate action.
References:
https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/what-is-climate-change/
https://www.discover.ukri.org/a-brief-history-of-climate-change-discoveries/index.html
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