What is climate change?
Climate change is a hot topic in the news cycle (no pun intended). Within the internet’s murky waters of media panic, messy misinformation, or tangled politics, it’s challenging to figure out what’s actually going on with our climate! In the face of this whirlpool of scary statistics and political footballs, it’s very easy to feel lost, powerless, overwhelmed, and frustrated.
So, let’s get back to the basics.
What is climate change?
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in the Earth’s temperature and weather patterns.
These shifts are usually the natural result of changes in the sun’s activity or large volcanic eruptions and occur slowly over long periods. Shifts to the climate impact where and when different kinds of life can survive.
In this way, climate change is nothing new.
The problem over the last few centuries has been the way the climate has been changing. We know that the Earth is getting hotter and weather events are more extreme – here is what we know:
It’s too fast
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have reported that the four main parts of the climate system (air, ocean, land, and ice regions) all are experiencing widespread rapid changes. The IPCC is the leading international body for the monitoring and assessment of all global science related to climate change, made up of over 782 scientists. They say the world is warming faster than at any time in the last 3000 years – and this pace is accelerating.
For a quick 5 minute breakdown of the latest IPCC report, check out this video!
It’s caused by human activity
These rapid changes are alarming not just because of their effects, but because of their uniquely unnatural causes.
So how are we warming the Earth?
Basically, we are producing gasses that are trapping heat in the Earth. These gases are called greenhouse gases.
Greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide and methane, are naturally occurring in the Earth’s atmosphere. They warm the Earth by making it difficult for heat to leave which we need to sustain all life on Earth. They are like the way the walls of a greenhouse keep the air inside warmer than its surroundings, or how wrapping yourself up in a blanket causes your body to warm up.
Naturally, this heat-trapping greenhouse effect allows the Earth to be livable for humans — without their natural circulation the global average temperature would be 33ºC cooler (this temp = death).
Since the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, humans have been producing a lot more greenhouse gases than ever before, primarily carbon dioxide and methane. This means that there are more greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere, trapping the sun’s rays and warming up the earth – this is really bad.
The burning of fossil fuels has increased the number of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by more than a third since the Industrial Revolution!
But how are we producing these greenhouse gases?
The burning of fossil fuels is a major reason for the production of more greenhouse gasses. Fossil fuels are formed from the fossilised, buried remains of plants and animals, deep underground. These formed over 200 million years ago – even before the dinosaurs!
The pressure of being piled under layers and layers of Earth means that these fossils formed into what we know as coal, oil, and gas. You can learn more about this process in this video:
Fossil fuels are also known as non-renewable energy, as their name suggests, there is a finite amount of non-renewable energy and we will inevitably run out!
Fossil fuels have lots of uses, from transport fuel to energy, to the making of plastics, and even cosmetics! They provide about 70% of Australia’s energy. From heating our homes to getting our cars moving, fossil fuels are still used for many of our daily needs.
But, fossil fuels account for 89% of global carbon dioxide emissions! Not only that, they cause many issues for our environment. This includes:
- mass land degradation
- ecological damage
- water pollution as a result of the mining, drilling and fracking
Building mines mean that land is cleared and forests are cut down, this accounts for 12-20% of global greenhouse gas emissions!
These consequences show us that in order to have a sustainable future – we need to stop extracting fossil fuels!
But don’t stress there is a solution – here’s where renewable energy comes in!
Renewable energy sources come from the sun and the wind – harvested by solar panels and wind farms. To power the whole world on renewable energy would require a lot of coordinated planning, funding, and creativity. Learn more about these solutions in this Ted-ed video.
However, this work is not being put into renewable energy, as many countries are still reliant and make lots of money off producing and selling fossil fuels.
So where does this leave us now?
With carbon dioxide concentrations at their highest level in at least the last 2 million years, the globe is warming, and fast.
This extra heat is unevenly taken up by different components of the climate system, such as the ocean, land, and air. Unfortunately means that this process isn’t just leading to warmer weather but to varied, multiple and imbalanced climate changes.
Diagram from ‘Climate Change 2021: Summary for All,’ IPCC
Check out this great video, which explains the causes of this unnatural climate change.
It will result in far-reaching and intense consequences
The impacts of climate change will (and already are) be deeply felt, and many effects will be irreversible.
The effects start with weather conditions like more heat waves which in turn will lead to increased drought and bushfires, as well as more severe storms which will in turn lead to increased natural disasters.
These intensifications of weather patterns disrupt the way our planet’s ecosystems usually operate. It is estimated the climate crisis will cause 1 million of the world’s species of plants and animals to go extinct. Additionally, every 1 degree of temperature increase will result in a 20% drop in global water security and the reduced availability of food due to a lack of farmable terrain and crop failure is estimated to drastically worsen the 345 million people suffering from acute food insecurity.
In turn, the other ecosystem that will invariably be disrupted is our (human) way of life. Changes in our environment will lead to severe and new health risks, the destruction of livelihoods, whole community displacement and the exacerbation of pre-existing income and social inequality.
Check out our article on climate justice to read more about how the effects of climate change will disproportionately affect different communities in different ways.
You can also check out this video for a summary of the widespread and devastating effects of climate change.
The TLDR
Because climate change is:
- Too fast
- Caused by humans
- And will result in far-reaching and intense consequences
We need to:
- Slow down this process
- Stop human greenhouse gas over-production
- Adapt and respond to the already occurring effects
Climate change or climate crisis?
So perhaps we need to shift our language from understanding what the Earth is currently going through less as a long-term climate change, and more so as a moment of climate crisis.
A crisis refers to a turning point where an important decision must be made, and an important change must take place.
The IPCC uses climate models — computer programs that simulate the Earth’s climate — to explore different future possibilities for the Earth under different climatic conditions. Pivotally, these models show that the choices we make now can have a big impact on the continuation, intensity, and varied effects of the heating planet.
If we strongly reduce emissions throughout this century, warming can be halted at around 1.5°C by 2050. But global temperatures will only stabilise when we stop adding more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. If emissions remain the same, or increase, temperatures will continue to rise.
The climate crisis offers us an important opportunity to radically rethink all the systems that shape the way we interact with the world, as well as one another. And us young folk are the ones with skin in the game.
So what can you do about it?
I recommend you read our articles on sustainability to learn about the large scale and small scale actions you can take to help our planet! And our article on eating more sustainably.
As Anjali Sharma advises move forward, “armed with knowledge, with passion, with ambition.” We recommend checking out the responses below from young climate activists such as Anjali Sharma, Mya-Rose Craig, Elizabeth Walthuti, Nicole Becker, Ella Simons and Amelia Telford, as they radically pave the way towards a better, greener future.
“At the age of 12 I’d been pointing my finger at myself and at everyone around me. At the age of 14 I’d finally placed responsibility on the government.”
→ Suing the government and fighting for a climate-safe future | Anjali Sharma
“Sub-Saharan Africans are responsible for just half a per cent of historical emissions. The children are responsible for none. But they are bearing the brunt.”
→ Climate activist Elizabeth Wathuti’s full speech at COP26
“Turn that anger into collective action”
→ Voices of Change: Interview with Nicole Becker
“An unequal world can never be a sustainable one.”
→ Reimagining the UK countryside – Mya-Rose “Birdgirl” Cage
“I’ve seen the power of youth voice… but I’ve also seen where our voices aren’t being heard because we don’t have a say at that ballot box”
→ Teenagers calling on Parliament to lower the voting age – Ella Simon
“They hold the energy, vision and solutions to create the just and sustainable future that our world needs.”
→ Amelia Telford: Why I took a stand – Climate justice and the future of the first Australians
So yes the climate crisis is something we should be concerned about, but it isn’t inevitable. Together we can make an impact!
We also recommend checking out our articles “What is Climate Justice?” and “Taking Climate Action” and “Decolonising environmentalism”. These will deepen your understanding and help you carve out your plan of action!
