Introduction to Climate Change

Introduction to
Climate Change

Climate versus weather

Climate is different from just weather. Weather is temporary whereas climate is more than just a couple of warm or cold days. Climate is defined as the typical weather conditions in an entire region for a very long time – 30 years or more.

What is global warming?

Scientists have observed that the Earth is warming and detected unusual changes recently. The Earth’s temperature has been increasing much quicker than expected over the past 150 years. Many of the warmest years on record have happened in the past 20 years. In fact, the last 5 years have been the warmest in centuries. This rise in global temperature is called global warming. On average, global air temperatures near the Earth’s surface have gone up about 2 degrees Fahrenheit in the past 100 years.

Source: climatekids.nasa.gov

What is climate change and why do we care?

Climate change is a change in typical weather (average weather conditions) for a region over a long period of time.

This can include:

Rising temperatures (global warming)

Changes in rainfall patterns

Rising sea levels

Shrinking mountain glaciers

Ice melting at a faster rate than usual in Greenland, Antarctica and the Artic

Changes in plant and flower blooming times

Many people, including scientists, are concerned about global warming and more generally, about climate change. Their reasons are that as the Earth’s climate continues to warm, the intensity and amount of rainfall during storms and hurricanes is expected to increase. Droughts and heat waves are also expected to intensify. This is already having devastating effects on many people around the world. Many people have lost their lives or their homes (ss well as all their possessions) in floods, hurricanes, mudslides, and wildfires, just to name a few natural disasters.

When the whole Earth’s temperature changes by 1 or 2 degrees, this can also have big impacts on the health of plants and animals, and cause shifts in wildlife habitats.

Climate change is man-made

The main driver is CO2 pollution from burning fossil fuels (like coal and oil), used to power factories, cars and buses.

Another driver is the release of excess methane through agriculture, livestock farming (cows release a significant portion of methane through their gassy burps), decay of organic waste in landfills, oil and natural gas systems, and wastewater treatment.

This increase in greenhouse gases (such as CO2 and methane) into the atmosphere causes the atmosphere to trap more heat than it used to, leading to a warmer Earth. This matters because oceans, land, air, plants, animals and energy from the Sun all have an effect on one another. The combined effect of all these things give us our global climate. It functions like one big, connected system.

What can you do?

There are many things you can do. If you know how you are impacting the planet, you can take simple steps to change. By completing the simple actions outlined on Hubeco’s EcoLife platform, you can reduce your own carbon footprint. Hubeco’s online carbon footprint calculator will tell you how much carbon dioxide your actions release. This allows you to take an active role in saving our planet.

Resources

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/nature/save-the-earth/article/13-ways-to-save-the-earth-from-climate-change