Climate Change

Climate change is a direct product of change in climate systems, these systems are affected by how much energy enters and leaves the planet on a regular basis. Climate forcings are factors which cause these changes in the Earth's climate system, either by adding or removing heat from the Earth's atmosphere. Some of the most important climate forcings include changes in greenhouse gas concentrations, changes in solar radiation, changes in land use patterns, and volcanic eruptions. These factors can alter the balance of energy in the Earth's climate system, leading to long-term changes in temperature, precipitation, and other climate variables. 

Global warming is the gradual increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation. This increase is primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, which releases large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

These greenhouse gases trap heat from the sun, which would otherwise escape into space, and warm the planet. The result is a warming of the lower atmosphere and the ocean surface, which can lead to changes in the Earth's climate, such as more frequent and intense heat waves, more intense storms, rising sea levels, and the melting of glaciers and polar ice caps. Carbon Dioxide is one of the main climate forcings which disrupts Earth’s energy budget by absorbing the thermal infrared energy with wavelengths that other GHG’s don’t (earthobservatory.nasa..2009). The Earth is absorbing 70% of the sunlight that falls on its surface but the CO2 in the atmosphere doesn’t let an equivalent amount of heat leave the planet’s atmosphere which is the main reason the planet is warming up.

The warming trend is unequivocal, as evidenced by decades of temperature measurements from land and sea-surface stations, as well as by multiple independent satellite measurements. The overwhelming majority of climate scientists agree that human activities, especially the burning of fossil fuels, are the primary cause of this warming.

Before the industrial revolution, global annual temperatures increased by 1-to-2-degree Fahrenheit, since 1895 when record keeping actually began the global annual temperatures have increased at the rate of 0.13-degree Fahrenheit per decade, however these numbers have doubled in the past 4 decades with temperature rising by 0.18 to 0.32 degrees every decade. (MacMillan,2021). The result of this has been very alarming with 9 of the 10 warmest years since 1880 have occurred since 2005—and the 5 warmest years on record have all occurred since 2015. 

Scientists, all around the world have agreed that earth’s rising temperatures are fuelling longer, hotter heat waves and cold waves with cities experiencing extreme weathers very often. The oceans are also getting warmer which means storms can now pick up more energy than before causing severe damage to the prone areas. 2017 has been one of the costliest years in history in terms of natural disasters with natural calamities such as (hurricanes and storms) causing a damage of roughly 300 billion dollars. 

Polar caps melting is another adverse effect of global warming that results in the release of fresh water into the ocean, causing the ocean levels to rise, which in turn contributes to further coastal erosion and increased risk of coastal flooding. Additionally, the loss of polar ice caps also means that there is less reflective surface on the Earth to deflect the sun's energy back into space. This leads to an increase in the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the Earth, causing even more warming of the planet. 

The melting of the polar ice caps is a serious concern and has far-reaching consequences for the environment and for human populations, particularly those living in coastal areas. These dramatic changes and their adverse effects are reasons for new technology and solutions for the fight against climate change and global warming, with new innovations advancing rapidly and new policies for monitoring the private players of major manufacturing units, there is a lot of scope for young minds to make a career in and help fight for a future.