There is solid consensus on the causes of Climate Change. While the global climate is changing rapidly, it has been proven that the greatest impact on global warming of the past half-century is due to human-induced activities. Glaciers on land and sea are melting, sea level is rising and the impact of climate change on sectors, countries and the world economy is increasing. Many different kinds of information about the planet and climate, gathered over many years by scientists, earth-orbiting satellites, and technological advances, reveal the signals of the climate crisis. Examining the role of humans in global warming and the concrete evidence pointing to climate change has an important role in the future of the crisis and response strategies. With the measures to be taken and the action plans to be implemented in order to adapt to the climate, public health, quality of life and economy will be improved.
Causes of Global Climate Change and Future Affects
Climate change is largely due to human activities. The burning of fossil fuels or the felling of trees has an ever-greater impact on climate and world temperature. It greatly increases the greenhouse gas that occurs naturally in the atmosphere, triggering the greenhouse effect and global warming.
Greenhouse Gases
It is known that the main driving force for climate change is the greenhouse effect. Some gases in the atmosphere detain the sun’s heat while causing it to leak back into space. Most of these gases, which create a reflection effect on the world by acting like the glass in the greenhouse, occur naturally. But some increase their concentration in the atmosphere as a result of human activities.
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Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2O), Fluorinated Gase
Especially since 2020, it has been determined that the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere produced by human activities has the most impact on global warming and has increased by approximately 48% from the pre-industrial level.
The effect of human activities on the formation of other greenhouse gases is less than carbon dioxide. According to estimates, the effect of natural conditions such as solar radiation and changes in volcanic activity on total global warming since the industrial revolution is under 0.1 degrees Celsius.
What are The Effects of Climate Change?
The average surface temperature of the planet, determined by the highest recorded temperature values in the last decade, has increased by almost 2.12 degrees Fahrenheit, equal to 1.18 °C, since the end of the 19th century. It is a change in the atmosphere caused by increased emissions of carbon dioxide and other human activities.
The main reasons for the increased emissions are primarily the burning of fossil fuels. Coal, oil, and gas produce carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide when burned. Deforestation, on the other hand, affects negatively the climate. By absorbing carbon dioxide, trees cause the loss of the effect that they create in the climate balance. Moreover, the carbon stored in the trees is released into the atmosphere and greatly increases the greenhouse effect. Methane is a major reason for increased emissions. As livestock increases, a large amount of methane gas, which is created while digesting food, is released into nature. Equipment and products using nitrogen-containing fertilizers and fluorinated gases are the main causes of increased emissions and create a powerful warming effect on the surface.
Global Warming and Net Zero 2050
There has been an increase of 2 °C in surface temperature since 1890. Global warming, which brings radical destruction to human health, nature and the economy, causes dangerous and destructive changes in the earth and carries bigger risks. Thus, the international community and governments have committed to limiting global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 under the Paris agreement. In the past, industries seem to have struggled to adapt to tough climate targets and were reluctant to adopt them but are now rushed to declare their dependence on net-zero emissions targets. Almost all of the warming has occurred in the last 40 years, and accordingly that the highest temperature values of the earth have been reached in the last 7 years.
Intense precipitation currents create many natural disasters such as ocean acidification, decreasing arctic sea ice and warming of the oceans.
It has been determined that the mass of the Greenland and Antarctic ice layers has decreased and between 1993 and 2019. Greenland lost an average of 279 billion tons of ice per year. Antarctica has lost 148 billion tons of ice. Glaciers are melting in almost every part of the world, including the Alps, the Himalayas, the Andes Rockies, Alaska, and Africa. So that, it seems like the danger increases with the snow cover disappearing from space.
Another disaster caused by global warming is the rise of global sea level by approximately 20 cm in the last century. In the last 20 years, this rate has been rapidly increasing, almost twice as compared to the last century.