What is Climate Change: 

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. 

Human influences such as increasing industrialization and urbanization have impacted the natural cycle of the earth’s climate. Shifts may be natural, but they are expected to evolve overtime during the solar cycle. In the 1800s, human activities have been the main cause of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels (like coal, oil, and gas) which produces heat-trapping gasses. Fossil fuels, carbon dioxide, and greenhouse emissions have created climate change to increase as the years go by. 

Why you chose this topic:

I decided to talk about climate change because you don’t hear it very often, until something bad is happening. I believe climate change is very, very important. Climate change is something real that is happening right now and is affecting us and the entire world in many different ways.

And many other things. Every day the world is being affected by it and it’s like each different country is being affected by some consequence of climate change. It is negatively affecting the temperature, wildlife, ecosystems, sea levels rising due to warmer sea temperatures, and natural resources that we humans depend on to survive. I also have noticed here in Waltham trash on the sidewalks and many other places, trees being cut down, and more buildings being built. A lot of cars are in circulation and contribute to the temperature changes every year.

And there is more. I have noticed climate change mentioned in social media news, but not many people taking action. I follow this account called Natgeo on Instagram, and they posted photos by Charlie Hamilton James of dead cows in Kenya due to extreme conditions, too much heat and not enough access to water. People have given up trying to save their cows. 

“Three consecutive failed rainy seasons have turned the land into a desert and left livestock and wildlife with almost nothing to eat. The Kenyan Government has declared an emergency, and together with the private sector, started provisioning some communities with food, water, and hay. That might ease the pain in the short term, but it could be too little, too late. The drought was predicted, but its catastrophic impact has surprised everyone. “As successive droughts bring deeper consequences, this fragile land is reaching a breaking point as the ecological resilience is destroyed,” according to National Geographic Explorer Paula Kahumbu.

In different places around the world there are many consequences due to climate change and we don’t even know. The earth is changing. We need to try and pull it together to make changes before Earth reaches its tipping point and it’s too late. We don’t want to risk our beautiful planet and animals. We need to do something before it’s too late. It is very important that we understand how much the climate is changing, to be prepared for the future.  

What causes climate change?

Climate change is happening due to our increased industrial activity, urbanization, deforestation, natural causes, and traveling because of high carbon emissions. The rapid acceleration of consumerism for products like fast fashion contributes to climate change. These activities are increasing climate change, while also making pollution worse with the increased use of fossil fuels that cause even more greenhouse emissions. 

The climate is also affected by our atmosphere, layers of gases that surround the earth. It is made of about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and one percent of other gases. 

These gsses act like a blanket wrapped around the earth, trapping the sun’s heat within our atmosphere.

Some gases trap more heat than others. The gases that trap the most heat are called greenhouse gases because they allow heat to reach the earth, but do not let it escape. Greenhouse gases are more difficult to understand than other gas molecules in the atmosphere. 

Some common greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane and ozone, water vapor, nitrous oxides and fluorinated gases.

If we keep burning fossil fuels, it is going to keep releasing greenhouse gases causing the earth to become warmer. 

Impacts of climate change:

Climate does not only threaten human life, but animal species and plants on the planet as well. These are some of the impacts of climate change. 

Extreme weather

In the news or social media we have seen flooding, bushfires, stronger hurricanes, intense heat waves, and wildfires in many places around the world. A lot of these events are caused by rising temperatures, higher evaporation, and precipitation rates. Specifically in the Arctic region, these have caused ice glaciers to melt and in turn have threatened all forms of life that live in cold environments and caused sea levels to rise.

Mass extinctions 

Many animals have been left with no choice but to migrate their natural habitats, outside of their usual patterns in search of food and livable conditions, while causing other animals to die off. Also, climate change has affected plants, trees, and flowers as they are no longer following their natural life cycles due to these spontaneous shifts in weather patterns because of longer droughts and increased temperatures stressing plants, causing them to be less productive. It also affects the food web. “Around 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction, many within decades, more than ever before in human history. The average abundance of native species in most major land-based habitats has fallen by at least 20%, mostly since 1900. More than 40% of amphibian species, almost 33% of reef-forming corals and more than a third of all marine mammals are threatened,” according to a UN report.

Earth has warmed by just over 1° Celsius since 1880, but two-thirds of this warming occurred after 1975. In fact, sixteen of the seventeen warmest years on record have occurred during the 21st century.

Some ways you can help:

• Switch to renewable energy sources. The best way to stop the usage of fossil fuels is by changing to clean and renewable energy. For example getting energy from solar panels, wind turbines, tidal energy and geothermal energy etc. 
• Reduce your carbon footprint. Carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse emissions released into the atmosphere as a result of your individual actions. To reduce it you need to use less water, insulate your home, reduce, reuse, and recycle etc. 
• Switch to sustainable transportation. Reduce car usage, switching to electric cars and minimizing plane travel will not only reduce air pollution but it can help climate change. 
• Keep fossil fuels in the ground. Countries need to move their economies away from fossil fuels because fossil fuels include coal, oil, and gas. Climate change will get worse if we keep burning fossil fuels. 
• Restore nature. Planting trees can help absorb carbon dioxide. Nature is very good at cleaning up emissions, that’s why planting trees is very important because they help with reducing emissions and absorbing carbon dioxide. 
• Protect Forests. Protecting forests like the Amazon and more. Is very important because they are crucial in the fight against climate change. Cutting down trees can cause deforestation and they could be absorbing a lot of carbon. Still companies destroy forests for animal farmings, soya or palm oil plantations. 
• Reduce plastic and how much people consume. Plastic is made from oil and plastic doesn’t break down easily a lot of plastic is burned causing emissions. That’s why we need to recycle, reduce, and reuse. Transport, fashion or fast fashion, food and other lifestyle choices all have different impacts on climate. By reducing this consumption we can help put less strain on the environment or planet. 
• Protect oceans. Protecting oceans and the life in them is ultimately a way to protect ourselves from climate change. Because oceans also absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, it helps to keep our climate steady. But plastic is most found in the oceans, many people are overfishing, and oil and gas drilling, and deep sea mining threaten our oceans. 

We need to do something before it’s too late. Climate or the earth’s health is very important because if we don’t take care of it, there can be many changes in a negative way. I used to order clothes online like in Shein, but I found out that fast shopping can damage our earth. So, I decided to stop ordering. Every time I see trash, I try to pick it up. I have noticed so many changes over the years as I travel from the U.S. to my home country of Guatemala every year. Everything is different there, the air feels different, sometimes you see trash on the sides of the road, deforestation, lack of rain… I try to plant trees every time I go, because there, people cut trees a lot, just to get wood, plant coffee trees, or build their houses. We need to protect nature, living creatures, and future generations. Because for many countries climate change is having more and more negative impacts. In social media I have noticed that many animals are going extinct and that scientists are trying to bring the animals that went extinct back. And some people want to make a change. Climate change is a big problem that we don’t talk about much and don’t care about. The environmental damage isn’t reversible, but at least we can do something to not make it worse. There are still many measures that can be implemented to improve the current state of climate change.