At climate changes are, without a doubt, one of the biggest challenges of current society. Although we always use the Polar Bear as a symbol of these changes, changes in climate are far from affecting just these animals. The impacts of climate change are significant and affect everything from our health to food production. Next, you will better understand what climate change is and how it affects our lives and that of other living beings on the planet.
Read too:The relationship between environmental impacts and the emergence of diseases
But, after all, what is climate change and what are the causes?
climate change is changes caused in weather patterns in the long term based on meteorological alternations, that is, on the weather conditions observed for a period. They can be caused by natural processes and also by human action. Follow the table below:
Natural causes |
Anthropogenic causes |
solar incidence: The solar radiation reaching the surface can vary, being higher or lower in some periods. |
Burning fossil fuels, which emits greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. |
Earth Orbit: The planet undergoes variation in its orbit according to the movements that it performs, which causes it to receive more or less solar radiation. |
Increase of logging, that is, the removal of vegetation cover. |
El Niño and La Niña: These phenomena cause changes in the average temperature of the waters of the Pacific, modifying the climatic conditions of the areas in which they operate. |
Emission of polluting gases into the atmosphere by industries and automobiles. |
volcanic activity: You volcanoes may present periods of increased activity. In situations of high occurrences of volcanic eruptions, the Earth's climatic cooling system occurs. |
Pollution of soil and water resources, which alters the environmental balance. |
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When did the weather start to change?
At changesclimatic they didn't happen overnight. Our evolutionary history is intrinsically linked to changes caused in the climate, which are observed since the formation of the planet Earth. Over the 4.6 billion years of the planet, the climate has changed. There have been, in the last 400,000 years, four different cycles, glacials and interglacials.
US last150years old, however, the planet had its temperatureincreased considerably. Studies indicate that the Earth warms up about 0.2°C per decade. Studies carried out by NASA and Noaa (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) show that the temperature recorded on Earth in 2018 was the fourth highest in the last 140 years. In 2017, the temperature increased by about 0.83ºC based on the average temperature recorded between the years 1951 and 1980. The highest average annual temperature was recorded in the year 2016.
But why did the temperature rise?According to the World Meteorological Organization, the planet is warmer than in the period before the industrialization process. the world scene afterIndustrial Revolution mnot only economically, but also the productive mode, causing changes in the environmental scenario.
O excessive consumption and high production, in addition to increasing the explorationFromresourcesnatural, also provoked the increase of atmospheric pollution, because of the emission of polluting gases by industries and automobiles. Production also accelerated the logging, which also caused changes in the climate.
IPCC
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a organ created with the goal main to do climate change assessments, as he is in charge of creating documents that show what is actually happening to the planet, our role in this process and future prospects for this impact. Your creation, in 1988, it took place at a time when man's role in the rise of the Earth's temperature was becoming increasingly clear.
O first report was published in 1990 and highlighted the importance of international cooperation to prevent the damage caused by climate change. This report was essential for the creation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), O maintreatedInternational with the aim of reducing global warming.
The IPCC periodically releases Diceimportant on climate change in the world, and these data are fundamental for the formulation of international climate-oriented policies. In the report published in 2007 (fourth report), for example, the IPCC highlighted very worrying data. According to that report, the increase in global temperature up to 2100 would be between 1.8°C and 4°C, the latter being catastrophic scenario.
O fifth IPCC report provided the scientific basis for the Paris Agreement, a commitmentInternational signed by 195 countries that have as one of yourgoals maintain the increase in the global mean temperature to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels. This agreement also foresees efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
In 2018, the IPCC released the Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on global warming of 1.5 °C, which presents important information to ensure making correct decisions by governments in order to avoid an exaggerated increase in the temperature.
According to this report, it is essential that the global temperature does not rise by 2°C above temperature levels before the Industrial Revolution, as this could have consequencesdisastrous, such as loss of biodiversity, loss of habitat, reduction of polar ice caps, etc. To ensure that the heating does not exceed 1.5ºC, they are essential quick changes.
Read too: Global warming and species extinction
What is the relationship between the greenhouse effect, global warming and climate change?
THE fromIndustrial Revolution, tons of gasesinIt is madestove, especially carbon dioxide, were launched into the atmosphere. It is known that the earth atmosphereis formed by gases like oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxideO and also water vapor. These gases, mainly carbon dioxide, have the ability to absorbthe solar radiation emitted to the earth's surface.
This absorption prevents heat from being completely returned to the space, retaining it. THE retained heat share causes there to be the balanceenergetic, thus avoiding a large thermal range, that is, a big difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures. By maintaining the Earth's average temperature around 14°C, the Earth then presents conditionsfavorable to the existence of life. This natural process is called greenhouse effect. Therefore, if it did not exist, there would be no development of living beings.
When talking about It is madestove, many people associate it with something bad, but he is essential to the maintenance of life on Earth. The problem is that this processNatural that maintains the Earth's average temperature has been mainly aggravated by human action. Industrial activities and the increase in vehicles that emit polluting gases into the atmosphere are responsible for biggerconcentrationingases.
How these gases act in the absorptioninheat, this has been prevented from being returned to space, so it remains imprisoned in the Earth's atmosphere. This imprisonment has caused a considerable increase in the Earth's temperatures, which, associated with increased levels of deforestation and pollution, causes what we call global warming.
knowalso: Climate agreements and global warming
Climate change and environmental impacts
At changesclimatic generate a series of consequencesenvironmentalserious, many can even be observed today. One of the consequences of the increase in the planet's temperature is the increaseoflevelofsea, that occurs because of the glacier melt. This can result in the flooding and submersion of coastal areas, causing a lot of damage to people living in these areas.
At talltemperatures may also cause great droughts, which will actively affect the agriculture, causing several problems in relation to food production. IPCC data from 2019 indicate that global warming could cause a reduction in corn crops in Brazil by 5.5% with each degree of warming. With the decrease in food production and the consequent increase in prices, many people will suffer from the issue of food safety, that is, with access to quality food, in sufficient and permanent quantity.
In addition to affecting agriculture, the dry is related to the fire outbreaks and with the water shortage. This last problem could lead part of the population to suffer from the low availability of drinking water and could generate competition for this resource.
While some areas will experience extreme drought, in some regions there may be a increaseexaggeratedof therains. This can cause problems like floods and Slippinginlands in areas with large numbers of people.
Several animals and plants, both terrestrial and aquatic species, will be directlyaffected by climate change, which will cause changes in their habitat. This will generate theextinctionof a large number of species, thus reducing the biodiversity. A study published in the journalecologyandevolution concluded that global warming could take 10% of the endemic species of toads, frogs and tree frogs from the Atlantic forest to extinction in about 50 years.
Another important point concerns the healthgivespopulation. In addition to worsening air pollution in different parts of the world, causing illnessescardiovascular and respiratory, some diseases, like dengue and malaria, which are transmitted by mosquitoes, could spread to more places around the globe.
What must be done to contain climate change?
THE worry with the questions regarding the changesclimate and its consequences they are discussed around the world through several conferencesenvironmental. These conferences bring together representatives from various nations to evaluate research, studies and data obtained about the climate and its changes and also seek to present possible actions that can alleviate the problems caused by the changes climate.
These conferences resulted in some agreements between countries in order to reduce the emission levels of greenhouse gases, as well as promote actions with the objective of containing global warming. As previously mentioned, one of them was the Paris Agreement. Another example is the Kyoto Protocol, signed in 1997 and which entered into force in 2005 with the goal to propose targets to developing countries in order to to decreaseatemissionsindioxideincarbon and also rely on the voluntary action of developing countries.
Read too:Paris Agreement - what it is, objectives, goals and the US issue
Controversies
Despite the numerous evidences about climate change, there is no consensusabout these changes. Some scholars and also government officials of some countries believe that the changes caused in the climate they are the result of natural processes and that the Earth is, in fact, heading towards a new glaciation. For skeptics of global warming, studies on climate change are alarmists, generating unnecessary worry.
By Ma. Vanessa Sardinha dos Santos and By Rafaela Sousa
