Climate Change

Climate change - long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, for example: variations in the solar cycle, but ever since the 1800s, the main cause has been human activities, mostly the burning of fossil fuels. When humans burn fossil fuels, we generate greenhouse gas emissions that act similarly to a blanket wrapped around Earth, raising temperatures by trapping the sun’s heat. Some greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change are carbon dioxide and methane. These emissions can come from the gasoline used to drive a car or burning coal to heat a building. Carbon dioxide can also be released when land and forests are cleared. A major source of methane emissions are landfills where LFG (landfill gas - a byproduct of the decomposition of organic material in landfills) is made of about 50% methane. 

Since greenhouse gas concentrations are at their highest level in 2 million years, Earth is about 1.1℃ warmer than it was during the late 1800s. Climate warming is happening at a speed unseen in the last 10,000 years with the last decade (2011-2020) being the warmest on record. 2020 tied with 2016 in being the hottest year on record ever since recordkeeping started in 1880. The industrial activities that modern civilization depends on have increased the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels by almost 50 percent since 1750. 

Climate change is greatly affecting the world and can cause intense droughts, severe fires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting of polar ice, declining biodiversity, and disastrous storms. It can affect a person’s work, health, safety, and our ability to grow food. Some people, for example: those living on small islands or in developing countries, are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The prolonged droughts are putting many people at risk of famine. The sea level and saltwater intrusion have increased so much that entire communities have had to relocate. 

Many (as in thousands of) scientists and government reviewers have agreed that if we work to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5℃ at most, we will avoid the worst climate impacts while keeping a livable climate. However, the policies that are currently in place lead to a 2.8℃ rise by the end of the century. 

Many solutions to the human impacts on climate change can provide economic benefits all while improving our lives and protecting the environment. Switching energy systems to use renewables, like solar or wind, instead of fossil fuels will help reduce the emissions driving climate change. While it’s great that a growing number of countries are committing to net zero emissions by 2050, about half of these cuts must be in place by 2030 to keep the warming below 1.5℃ and fossil fuel production should decrease by almost 6 percent each year between 2020 and 2030. 

Sources: https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change, https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/, Basic Information about Landfill Gas | US EPA, Home – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet (nasa.gov)