Sure you’ve heard of it, but … do you really know what climate change is and how it affects us? Climate change, also known as “global warming”, is the way in which acts outside nature, such as the hand of man, affect the warming and climate of our planet.
The climate is cyclical and changing naturally, but it is normal that these changes take a long time to occur and that all human beings live in a certain climate throughout our lives. Or at least that was the case until recently, because the effects of climate change are already so extreme that they are visible and evident to all of us. It is estimated that, at least since the Industrial Revolution, which emerged in the 19th century, the way humans work and live has been highly polluting and aggressive with the environment, which is why the Earth has been raising its temperature faster than it should, affecting people, climate and fauna and flora, as occurs with polar bears. These lovely bears need sea ice to hunt, raise their young, to rest… but their frozen natural habitat is melting from the warmer temperatures on Earth and their lives are sadly put at risk.
All this activity carried out by people releases a large amount of harmful gases into the Earth’s atmosphere , causing the global temperature to rise rapidly. As the planet’s temperature rises, climates can change and become humid when they were not, become warm when they were polar before … that is, the peak becomes increasingly extreme and difficult to predict.
Some things that influence climate change
- Agriculture Although it seems almost impossible, agricultural activity also influences, and quite a lot, in climate change. For example, feeding cows causes very harmful gases to be released into the atmosphere in large quantities after digestion. Believe it or not, the feeding habits of cows contribute to climate change . Like us, when cows eat, methane (a type of greenhouse gas), accumulates in their digestive system and is released in the form of gases, so … can you imagine 500 million cows releasing all those hideous gases into the atmosphere every day?
- Fossil fuels. Over the past 150 years, industrialized countries have burned large amounts of fossil fuels, such as oil and gas. These gases released into the atmosphere act as an invisible “blanket” that traps the sun’s heat and warms the Earth. This is what is known as the “greenhouse effect.”
- Deforestation. Forests absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide from the air and release oxygen, another greenhouse gas, into it. Fortunately, the Amazon rainforest is so large and efficient in this task that it acts as the air conditioning of our planet, which greatly limits climate change. The bad news is that many tropical forests are being cut down to produce wood, palm oil or to make roads, buildings, oil extraction … which is affecting that natural way of our planet to relieve greenhouse gases.
Climate change is, in short, a very serious issue that we must all be aware of . Fortunately we can do many things to reverse it, such as recycling , protecting our mountains and our coasts from dirt, investing in natural and alternative energies … And you? What steps are you taking to end climate change and to protect our environment ?
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