Written By Kimani Wiseman
Climate change is real, and it is accelerated when there is an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which causes the climate to change over a period of time.
For example, some countries may experience heavy rainfall, while some countries may have a shortage of rainfall. Climate change began in the mid 1700s, when the industrial revolution kicked off, which saw an increased in greenhouse gases and it was compounded later on as the human population began to grow rapidly.
In 1950, the human population was 2,556,000,053 and in November 2018 it is 7.7 Billion. With this rapid growth in the human population, there have been more cars on the road, electrical appliances being increased in homes, more garbage being sent to the landfills, deforestation, Animals being reared to feed more people, all these activities have caused greenhouse gases to increase in the atmosphere.
As greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases, it is causing the earth to warm up quickly which is causing: The ice in Antarctica to melt causing sea level to rise, the ocean is becoming warmer causing an increase in coral bleaching and also stronger storms and hurricanes, more droughts, heat waves, and diseases being spread from insects.
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the 20 warmest years on record have been in the past 22 years, with 2015- 2018 making up the top four.
The Great Barrier Reef suffered an unprecedented coral bleaching event in the summer of 2016, followed by another bleaching event in 2017.
In the summer of 2018, record high temperatures were recorded in many places across the world which caused heat waves in Europe, Asia, North America, Canada, and Northern Africa. In Montreal, 28 people died after temperatures reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit and higher for days, While in Japan, 96 people were killed after temperatures reached an all time high of 106 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Met Office in England also reported that 2018 was the “hottest summer ever recorded”. These high temperatures also caused an outbreak of wildfires in Europe, which took 91 lives in Greece.
The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season was one of the most destructive on record. Hurricane Harvey killed 25 people in Texas, Irma caused 38 deaths in the Caribbean and 34 in Florida, Maria killed 31 persons in Dominica and 2,975 in Puerto Rico.
Rising temperatures and heavy rainfall can cause the mosquito population to increase which can cause an outbreak of diseases, over one million people die from malaria annually.
According to the latest climate change report from the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC).
The report states that, “our planet has already warmed by one degree Celsius and it must not get past 1.5°celsius, but currently we are on path to sail past 1.5°celsius by2030 if nothing is done urgently”.
Are countries going to allow planet earth to get above 1.5°celsius which would cause all the effects of climate change to get worse and do nothing to reduce their carbon foot print?
Here are some tips for the mitigation of climate change:
- More recycling can be done or countries can implement a waste to energy programme (WTE) which involves the burning of waste to generate electricity. This would mean less waste going to the landfill which would emit less methane.
- More fuel efficiency vehicles should be used.
- Use more renewable energy such as solar, wind, etc and less fossil fuels.
- Plant more trees: Trees acts as carbon sinks which removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
- Purchase energy saving bulbs and electrical appliances.
- Eat less beef and adopt a plant rich diet, this would help to reduce methane that is released from cattle.
- Waste less food: food that is disposed of and spoiled creates methane.
In conclusion countries are staring down the barrel of a gun with climate change, to remove this gun from our face, it is going to require, “all hands on deck”.
Politicians globally would have to put policies in place to alleviate their carbon foot print and the citizens of each country would have to execute these policies, if this does not happen soon, it is going to be “dooms day” for the entire world.
Written By Kimani Wiseman
