The Problem: What Is It and Why Does It Matter?
14 minute read
Updated on Friday, April 5, 2024
What does climate change mean?
Climate is the average weather on our planet over a long period of time.
And our planets climate is changing.
So, let's begin by addressing a fundamental question: Why does climate change matter? The answer is straightforward—it threatens humans, animals, and countless other living beings.
For humans, the consequences of climate change are far-reaching. They include:
The effects of climate change vary across different regions and populations. Unfortunately, those who have contributed the least to the problem are often the ones who suffer the most.
Climate change isn't just a problem for humans. All living things are at risk - global extinction rates are now a thousand times faster than what we would expect under normal circumstances.
In fact…
What is causing it?
It boils down to the greenhouse effect. Certain gases in our atmosphere, known as greenhouse gases, trap heat from the sun, making our planet warmer.
While greenhouse gases aren’t necessarily bad, the amount of them is. Human activities, in particular our reliance on fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal for energy, have been releasing an excessive amount of these gases into the atmosphere.
The graph above shows the dramatic increase in atmospheric concentrations of the greenhouse gas CO₂ in the last hundred-ish years.
As a result, the planet has been warming - fast!
We have already warmed the planet by 1.2°C in the last hundred years.
You may have heard that we are aiming to limit this to 1.5°C, or at most 2°C. It is extremely unlikely that we will be able to limit global warming to 1.5°C - but this doesn’t mean we should give up!
Every little bit of global warming matters.
The impacts of global warming are vastly different between 1.5°C and 2°C - for humans…
…And for all other life on Earth.
Can we fix it?
At the point that we are at, it’s unrealistic to aim at repairing the damage we have done to the planet, at least in the next hundred years.
But there is hope. We can solve the problem now to limit the damage.
Solving climate change requires two essential components: mitigation and adaptation.
Mitigation focuses on reducing the root causes of climate change by emitting fewer greenhouse gases.
But because of the greenhouse gases already emitted, global temperatures will continue to rise to some extent. This is where our second component comes into play…
Adaptation involves taking action to adjust to climate changes, ensuring our basic needs—like food, water, health, and shelter—are met.
The main challenge facing adaptation is the cost of it.
It is often the case that the countries most in need of adaptation measures are least able to afford it - and have contributed least to the problem in the first place! Wealthier countries can help fund adaptation measures in poorer countries, but the amount of money actually given tends to fall short.
Mitigating, or cutting emissions, as much as possible will lower the need - and cost - of adaptation. But how can we effectively reduce emissions? To understand how to solve that problem, we first need to know where we are starting from.