Environment Conservation
Climate Change:
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Such shifts can
be natural, due to changes in the sun’s activity or large volcanic eruptions. But since the 1800s,
human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of
fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.
Burning fossil fuels generates greenhouse gas emissions that act like a blanket wrapped around
the Earth, trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures
The main greenhouse gases that are causing climate change include carbon dioxide and
methane. These come from using gasoline for driving a car or coal for heating a building, for
example. Clearing land and cutting down forests can also release carbon dioxide. Agriculture, oil
and gas operations are major sources of methane emissions. Energy, industry, transport,
buildings, agriculture and land use are among the main sectors causing greenhouse gases.
Climate Change is the defining issue of our time and we are at a defining moment. From shifting
weather patterns that threaten food production, to rising sea levels that increase the risk of
catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and unprecedented in
scale. Without drastic action today, adapting to these impacts in the future will be more difficult
and costly.
Humans are responsible for Global Warming :
Climate scientists have showed that humans are responsible for virtually all global heating over
the last 200 years. Human activities like the ones mentioned above are causing greenhouse gases
that are warming the world faster than at any time in at least the last two thousand years.
The average temperature of the Earth’s surface is now about 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late
1800s (before the industrial revolution) and warmer than at any time in the last 100,000 years. The
last decade (2011-2020) was the warmest on record, and each of the last four decades has been
warmer than any previous decade since 1850.
Many people think climate change mainly means warmer temperatures. But temperature rise is
only the beginning of the story. Because the Earth is a system, where everything is connected,
changes in one area can influence changes in all others.
The consequences of climate change now include, among others, intense droughts, water
scarcity, severe fires, rising sea levels, flooding, melting polar ice, catastrophic storms and
declining biodiversity.
The science is clear: our climate is heating rapidly. The average global temperatures have
increased by 1.2 degrees Celsius since 1880, particularly in the late 20th century. The
concentration of atmospheric CO2, the GHG that contributes more than 2/3 to global warming, is
at its highest level ever. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) steadily points
out that human activities have warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land, producing widespread
and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere. Due to these changes in
climate, the number of weather, climate and water-related disasters has increased by a factor of
five over the past 50 years, causing over 2 million deaths and US$3.64 trillion in losses.
According to IPCC, warming beyond 1.5 degrees could have irreversible and irreparable
consequences. However, effective and equitable adaptation and mitigation actions can
significantly reduce vulnerability and contribute to climate resilience. To limit global warming to
well below 2, preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels, countries came
together to hold themselves accountable under the Paris Agreement. The agreement is a
milestone of international cooperation to tackle climate change – first legally binding document in
the history of climate action.
To move fast in the race against climate crisis, targeted actions that bring tangible benefits and
limit the trade-offs on multiple fronts, are key for common success against climate change. The
2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world’s plan of action to
achieving sustainability and resilience for people and planet, are closely linked with climate.
Maximising on the interlinkages between the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement by leveraging
Climate and SDG Synergies, has the potential of achieving both agendas and guaranteeing a
liveable future for next generations by leaving no one behind. In fact, progress made towards
limiting global temperature increase would significantly ease the path to many other SDGs, such
as those related to poverty, hunger, access to water, and terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Many
of the SDGs and their targets can also be achieved in ways that would enable adaptive responses
to climate change, for example those related to resilience in SDGs 9 and 11, respectively relating
to infrastructure and urban settlements.
There are some basic well-established scientific links:
- The concentration of GHGs in the earth’s atmosphere is directly linked to the average global temperature on Earth;
- The concentration has been rising steadily, and mean global temperatures along with it, since the time of the Industrial Revolution;
- The most abundant GHG, accounting for about two-thirds of GHGs, carbon dioxide (CO2), is largely the product of burning fossil fuels.
Climate-driven food and water insecurity is expected to grow
Global warming of 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels has been caused by over a century of burning
fossil fuels and unequal, unsustainable energy and land use. This has led to an increase in the
frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, which have caused dangerous impacts on
nature and people worldwide.
Each increment of warming results in rapidly escalating hazards, such as more intense heatwaves,
heavier rainfall, and other weather extremes that increase risks for human health and ecosystems.
Climate-driven food and water insecurity is expected to increase with increased warming. When
these risks combine with other adverse events, such as pandemics or conflicts, they become
even more difficult to manage.
To close the gap between existing adaptation and what is needed, accelerated action to adapt to
climate change is essential in this decade. Keeping warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels
requires deep, rapid, and sustained greenhouse gas emissions reductions in all sectors.
Emissions should be decreasing by now and will need to be cut by almost half by 2030 if warming
is to be limited to 1.5°C