IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE!
The Climate Change Letter
My second newsletter is here! I appreciate your sharing and subscribing, everyone. I'm grateful for the success of my launch post. It has been a week since then and the responses have been really heart-warming and inspiring.
Today, we are delving into the topic of climate change and it is something that really needs to be discussed but first, let’s begin with a little story time.
One of my earliest memories of a debate competition was when I was 7 or 8 years old in primary school. I was in primary three and the debate topic had something to do with discussing the depletion of the ozone layer. This was a debate competition between the primary five and primary six pupils while the rest of us were there as spectators. I remember watching the debaters speak passionately, while using a lot of terminology that I had no idea what they meant. However, something I picked out from the entire debate was that as a result of our human activity, the ozone layer was thinning and very soon it was going to be destroyed and we would all be burnt to death! A little extreme, I know, but that was what went on in my mind at that age. My science teacher did not help matters because one thing that man was going to do, was tell us that our planet was being destroyed and it could kill us. However, I started to tell myself later on that it was all just an irrational fear or so I thought and we were all fine or at least it wasn’t going to happen in our lifetime.
However, these days my fears do not seem so irrational anymore. Everyone can see that there is a problem, from increasingly unpredictable weather to natural disasters, many of which no longer seem to be so natural. Someone please explain to me why harmattan suddenly appeared in Lagos in the middle of February for only a few days before disappearing, why rainfall patterns are so unpredictable that it is increasingly difficult to tell when it is the rainy season or dry season, and why the number of floods worldwide is increasing exponentially each year. And no, these are not just “one of those things that happen,” the simple answer is Climate Change and it is a rather serious issue that needs to be addressed. I can see the climate changing, I know you can see it too and we need to talk about it. So let’s get into it.
What is Climate Change?
Climate Change is simply long-term changes in weather patterns and temperatures. Since the 1800s, when industrialization really took off, human activities—most notably the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas—have been the main driver of climate change. These fossil fuels produce greenhouse gases, which trap solar heat and raise temperatures. There is a slight misunderstanding that climate change just refers to changes in temperatures and weather patterns, but it encompasses much more. As a result of climate change, we are seeing an increase in cases of reduced biodiversity, intense fires, water scarcity, increasing sea levels, flooding, and severe droughts. Additionally, due to these changes that the earth is the experiencing, the planet’s sustainability is seriously threatened and our ecosystem currently faces such a huge threat that the future of mankind is uncertain.
Causes of Climate Change
I have highlighted a few of the causes of Climate Change below and even though this list is not exhaustive, they are some of the largest contributors to the Climate Change crisis.
Power Generation
Electricity is generally generated through non-renewable sources. We largely generate electricity through burning fossil fuels for a host of reasons but majorly because it is a lot cheaper than renewable energy sources. However, power generation through non-renewable sources like the burning of oil and gas or coal produces unhealthy amounts of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide which are greenhouse gases that trap the heat of the sun and in effect causes a rise in the earth’s temperature.
Deforestation
Deforestation is largely responsible for Climate Change. When trees are cut down, carbon which these trees have been storing is now released into the atmosphere. Also, because the forests are known to absorb carbon dioxide, cutting down trees and clearing of forests reduces the ability to remove emissions from the atmosphere. If you’ve ever seen any campaign urging us to plant trees or not to cut them down, this is exactly why because removing trees contribute to climate change.
Transportation
The United Nations reports that transport accounts for almost one quarter of global energy-related carbon dioxide, especially road transport. Due to combustion of petroleum-based products, transportation releases massive amounts of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Manufacturing or Production
The manufacturing industry contributes largely to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere because fossil fuels are burnt to produce items like plastics, clothes, steel, iron, etc. The machinery used in production of these items usually run on fossil fuels and because these materials are produced in such large quantities, they are one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gases worldwide.
Effects of Climate Change
It is very difficult to highlight all the effects of Climate Change on our ecosystem, however, I have highlighted some of the most pressing and obvious effects of Climate Change. These include;
The Heat Wave
There have been complaints of hotter temperatures all around the world in recent years. The world is now warming faster than at any point recorded in history. The warmer temperatures are causing weather patterns to change over time and in turn disrupting the usual balance of nature. Hotter temperatures is one of the most visible effects of climate change. The last decade, the years 2011-2020 is said to have been the warmest on record. This is affecting almost all land areas and each year seems to be hotter than the previous.
Extreme flooding
In many regions, there have been cases of very destructive flooding that have been reported to claim millions of lives and property. These storms are caused by a rise in temperature, causing more moisture to evaporate and leading to extreme cases of severe rainfall and flooding.
Drought
The effects of Climate Change affect so many people and regions differently, because as some may experience extreme rainfalls, others may experience severe drought. Due to Climate Change, there is a heightened case of water shortages in certain regions and this in effect affects crops, leading to food shortages as well.
Extinction of Species
Humans are not the only ones affected by Climate Change as it presents a huge risk to other species existing both in water and on land. Due to Climate Change, the United Nations reports that the world is losing species at a rate 1,000 times than at any other time in recorded human history and within the next few decades, there is a risk of one million species becoming extinct. Some factors that contribute to this extinction include but are not limited to forest fires, drought and extreme weather conditions because while humans may be able to adapt to extreme change in weather conditions, other species may not.
Climate Action and the Sustainable Development Goals
Climate Action is Goal 13 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. I explained these goals in my last post. Goal 13 urges us to take immediate action to tackle climate change as it is very necessary in protecting lives and property and also making the Sustainable Development Goals a reality. The targets for Goal 13 are listed below:
13.1 Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries
13.2 Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning
13.3 Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning
13.A Implement the commitment undertaken by developed-country parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion annually by 2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate Fund through its capitalization as soon as possible.
13.B Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries and small island developing States, including focusing on women, youth and local and marginalized communities.
I’ll personally love us to pay attention to target 13.3 because I believe that as individuals, that is one area where we can make massive impact.
Finally, I hope my primary school science teacher is doing great wherever he is. He was not exaggerating, he was right!
SustainabiliTEA
I shared a little story about this section of the newsletter in my last post. You should check it out if you haven’t.
Also, after reading my last post for about the tenth time after publishing last Wednesday and trying to see it from the reader’s perspective. I realized how just dropping web links did not look so great, therefore, moving ahead, we are hyperlinking everything! I’m certain this looks much better.
Here’s the tea for this week;
Fears over crocodiles swimming into homes as flooding hits Australia
How climate change spreads malaria in Africa, by scientists
Climate change: New idea for sucking up CO2 from air shows promise
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Don’t forget to share. See you next week!