Skyler O'Kelley
Nov 1, 2024
Every day we see stories about “climate change this” and “climate change that”, but what exactly is climate change? And why is it such a big deal? In this week’s Digest, we will dive into the basics of climate change and why it’s so important to care about.
Before beginning, this is a very basic overview, that doesn’t encompass the wide scope of all that climate change is, so it is heavily encouraged that you do your research for a fuller picture.
According to the United Nations, “Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns.” Climate change on its own is a natural process that has been occurring for as long as the Earth has been spinning, but the reason we’re hearing so much about it now is because “since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels (like coal, oil, and gas) which produces heat-trapping gases.” (United Nations). Human activity has worsened the effects of climate change by amplifying the Greenhouse effect. What’s the greenhouse effect you ask? The greenhouse effect is something that happens naturally, our atmosphere retains or releases energy that is reflected from the earth. Usually, the atmosphere strikes a perfect balance between how much heat is released back into space, and how much is kept in the atmosphere to maintain comfortable temperatures. However, excess greenhouse gases make the ozone layer (a part of our atmosphere) thicker, thus retaining more energy and sending less into space. This causes the extra heat to warm up the planet, turning us into a large greenhouse. But what gases are causing the most harm? And what ‘activities’ pump so much of them into the atmosphere? Below is a basic rundown of the various gasses and where they come from.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) - The biggest one you’ll hear about. Enters the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels, cutting forests, fertilizing crops, storing waste in landfills, raising livestock, and the production of certain industrial products. The Carbon Cycle usually handles the natural processing of carbon, but human activities overload the system, thus resulting in an excess of CO2 that heats the planet.
Methane - This gas comes from both natural and human activities. Wetlands, agriculture, and fossil fuel extraction emit methane.
Nitrous Oxide - Mostly from agricultural activities and natural biological processes. Burning fossil fuels and other industrial processes create NO.
F-Gases - Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC), hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. Used in coolants, foaming agents, fire extinguishers, solvents, pesticides, and aerosol propellants.
Many of these gases come from the burning of fossil fuels. There are two ways fossil fuels are burned, on the consumer level and the industrial level. On the consumer side, the biggest way we emit these gasses is by driving gasoline cars. The gas that powers our cars comes from oil extracted from the ground, and when it is used in our vehicles it releases a bunch of greenhouse gasses. The easiest way for one to reduce their emissions here is to take public transit, bike/walk, carpool, or switch to an electric vehicle.
But even if every person in America switched to one of the above options, it still wouldn’t slow down the problem because a vast majority of greenhouse gasses come from industrial practices. Primarily, the extraction and processing of fossil fuels emit the most gasses. The Big Oil industry rapidly processes raw oil into gas and plastic at such a rate that makes it the largest contributing factor to climate change. There is a lot more to dive into here about how Big Oil contributes to climate change, but that is beyond the scope of this article, I highly recommend you do more research and check out the resources below for more information.
Why do we care if the planet gets warmer? That just means a better tan in the summer, right? Not really. While yes the warmer planet might make the pool industry boom, it spells disaster for the rest of the planet. The warmer the planet the more glacial ice that melts, resulting in rising oceans. Less ice means less sunlight reflected into space because they can’t bounce off the reflective snow and ice. Rising oceans result in the flooding of coastlines and according to the United Nations, “Presently about 40% of the world’s population lives within 100 kilometers of the coast.” 40% of the world lives near a coastline and if the oceans continue to rise, they will have to move, creating various issues for more inland cities as more people are displaced due to climate change.
Additionally, the ocean is a huge carbon reservoir. It absorbs more carbon than our trees do, but it can’t just grab all our carbon and hold it there. As the ocean absorbs carbon it begins to heat up, and with warmer ocean temperatures comes a myriad of different issues. One is that warmer oceans can power hurricanes to become more deadly. As a storm travels over warm oceans it pulls more heat and water vapor which can result in heavier rainfall, stronger winds, and more flooding when it hits land. And remember those higher ocean levels? When the sea level rises it can allow stronger storm surges to occur because the stronger winds of the storm combined with higher sea levels push that ocean water inland.
So, let’s say we stop the ice from melting, but the ocean is still absorbing carbon, that means we’re fine right? The snow reflects the sunlight coming in and the ocean becomes an enormous hot tub and we’re all good. That would be a no. The ocean mustn’t warm up with the rest of the planet because it can result in a loss of biodiversity. A lot of marine life, like corals, are very specific about the type of environment they’re in. If the pH, temperature, or even amount of sunlight were to change, there could be a mass dying out of many different species. This isn’t just a problem in the ocean either, on land species extinction risk increases with every degree the planet warms. A loss of biodiversity would directly impact human health because the life-sustaining chemicals, genes, and products that come from having a biologically diverse ecosystem are lost. Additionally, food production would slow down and fresh water would disappear. Biodiversity also helps to prevent and mitigate the spread of infectious diseases.
Sounds like we’re screwed yeah? Not at all. We have plenty of solutions that can help us mitigate the damage we’ve already done and prevent the situation from getting worse. For more information, please check out the Digest article that highlights some of the actions you can take to help as well as the resources below that go further into the effects of climate change.
What you should take away from this is that a large majority of the problem comes from human activities and that those activities are causing damage to our planet. I encourage you to do more research to learn more if you want to get the full breadth of understanding.
Resources:
Crash Course Geography - What is Climate Change?
Crash Course Climate & Energy - What is Climate Change?
EPA - How Carbon Affects Nearly Everything on Earth - Including Our Future
Environmental Defense Fund - How Climate Change Makes Hurricanes More Destructive