29th September 2019
We
all are well aware that climate change is a major issue nowadays. Today I want
to talk about the signs that show that climate change is right at the door. The
first sign is that temperatures are rising worldwide due to greenhouse gases
trapping more heat in the atmosphere. As greenhouse gasses such as carbon
dioxide are being emitted daily in a significantly high amount.
The picture
below shows the details of the global atmospheric concentrations of carbon
dioxide over time.
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Source: epa.gov
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This figure shows concentrations of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere from hundreds of thousands of years ago through 2015, measured in
parts per million (ppm). The data come from a variety of historical ice core
studies and recent air monitoring sites around the world.
Each line represents
a different data source. [2]
The second sign is that droughts are
becoming longer and more extreme around the world. Every inhabited continent,
to varying degrees, faces extremely high-water stress. These “stressed” areas
are also the ones most vulnerable to episodic droughts. With chronic over-use
of water resources, it only takes a string of a few bad rainfall years or poor
management decisions to plunge a region into crisis and chaos.
The third sign is that Tropical storms
becoming more severe due to warmer ocean water temperatures. The increase in
temperature due to global warming is causing warmer ocean water temperatures
that cause tropical storms to become more severe. These frequent and intense
tropical storms can cause a lot of destruction and many lives can be lost.
The fourth sign is that the ice on
mountains, glaciers and Polar Regions is melting faster than ever before. This
is also happening due to the increase in temperatures due to global warming.
This results in higher sea levels causing frequent and intense floods. The sea
levels will rise 1-4 feet by 2100 causing a lot of floods. The Arctic will
likely become ice-free. The picture below shows the rate of increase in seal
levels.
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Source: epa.gov
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The fifth sign is that permafrost is melting, releasing methane, which is a powerful greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. Permafrost covers large regions of the Earth. Almost a quarter of the land area in the Northern Hemisphere has permafrost underneath. Although the ground is frozen, permafrost regions are not always covered in snow. The melting of permafrost not only releases greenhouse gasses but it can also encourage erosion because of permafrost grants stability to barren Arctic slopes.
These signs mentioned above have shown up because of the
ignorant behavior of mankind. This doesn’t mean that we should lose hope and do
nothing; we still have a chance to prevent climate change. The usage of
renewable energy should be increased to help lower greenhouse gas emissions and
deforestation should be reduced a lot to save the trees that make oxygen for us
to breathe. We should all start our work to make this beloved planet a better
place for the upcoming generations. Otherwise, climate change will immensely
destroy this planet, which is why we shouldn’t wait anymore and should ACT NOW.
