Climate Change

Angelica P. Adepin
What Is Climate Change?

AIRS instrument on NASA’s Aqua spacecraft shows high carbon dioxide

concentrations in the Northern Hemisphere.

What Is Climate Change?

Climate change is generally defined as a significant variation of average weather

conditions—say, conditions becoming warmer, wetter, or drier—over several
decades or more. It’s the longer-term trend that differentiates climate change
from natural weather variability.

Record floods. Raging storms. Deadly heat. Climate change manifests itself in
myriad ways and is experienced by every living being, although not equally.
Throughout the world, the economically disadvantaged and people of color—those
who have contributed the very least to the root causes of climate change—are the
most likely to suffer from its worst impacts. Here are the basics on what causes
climate change, how it’s affecting the planet and its people, and what we can do
about it.

How Is Climate Change Measured Over Time?

Climate refers to the general weather conditions of a place as measured over

many years. In the United States, for example, Maine’s climate is cold and snowy
in winter while South Florida’s is tropical year-round.

Earth-orbiting satellites, remote meteorological stations, and ocean buoys are

used to monitor present-day weather and climate, but it’s paleoclimatology
data from natural sources like ice cores, tree rings, corals, and ocean and lake
sediments that have enabled scientists to extend the earth’s climatic records
back millions of years. These records provide a comprehensive look at the long-
term changes in the earth’s atmosphere, oceans, land surfaces, and cryosphere
(frozen water systems). Scientists then feed this data into sophisticated climate
models that are able to predict future climate trends with impressive accuracy.

It’s worth noting that while climate change and global warming are often used
interchangeably, global warming—the recent rise in the global average
temperature near the earth’s surface—is just one aspect of climate change.

What Causes Climate Change?

The mechanics of the earth’s climate system are simple. When energy from the
sun is reflected off the earth and back into space (mostly by clouds and ice), or
when the earth’s atmosphere releases energy, the planet cools. When the earth
absorbs the sun’s energy, or when atmospheric gases prevent heat released by the
earth from radiating into space (the greenhouse effect), the planet warms. A
variety of factors, both natural and human, can influence the earth’s climate
system. Learn more about the causes of climate change.

Natural causes of climate change

The earth has gone through warming and cooling phases in the past, long before
humans were around. Forces that can contribute to climate change include the
sun’s intensity, volcanic eruptions, and changes in naturally occurring greenhouse
gas concentrations. But records indicate that today’s climatic warming—
particularly that which has occurred since the mid-20th century—is happening at a
much faster rate than ever before, and it can’t be explained by natural causes
alone. According to NASA, “[t]hese natural causes are still in play today, but their
influence is too small or they occur too slowly to explain the rapid warming seen in
recent decades.” Learn more about the natural causes of climate change.

Anthropogenic causes of climate change

Humans—more specifically, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that human

activity generates—are the leading cause of the earth’s rapidly changing climate
today. Greenhouse gases play an important role in keeping the planet warm enough
to inhabit. But the amount of these gases in our atmosphere has skyrocketed in
recent decades. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, our
current concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide “are
unprecedented compared with the past 800,000 years.” Indeed, the atmosphere’s
share of carbon dioxide—the planet’s chief climate change contributor—has risen
by 46 percent since preindustrial times. Learn more about the human causes of
climate change.
 A waterfront
factory pumping out clouds of smoke

The burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas for electricity, heat, and
transportation is the primary source of human-generated emissions. A second
major source is deforestation, which releases sequestered (or stored) carbon into
the air. It’s estimated that logging, clearcutting, fires, and other forms of forest
degradation release an average of 8.1 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per
year, accounting for more than 20 percent of all global CO2 emissions. Other
human activities that generate air pollution include fertilizer use (a primary
source of nitrous oxide emissions), livestock production (cattle, buffalo, sheep,
and goats are major methane emitters), and certain industrial processes that
release fluorinated gases. Activities like agriculture and road construction can
also change the reflectivity of the earth’s surface, leading to local warming or
cooling.

Though our planet’s forests and oceans absorb greenhouse gases from the
atmosphere through photosynthesis and other processes, these natural carbon
sinks can’t keep up with our rising emissions. The resulting buildup of greenhouse
gases is causing alarmingly fast warming worldwide. It’s estimated that the earth’s
average temperature rose by about 1 degree Fahrenheit during the 20th century.
If that doesn’t sound like much, consider this: When the last ice age ended and
the northeastern United States was covered by more than 3,000 feet of ice,
average temperatures were just 5 to 9 degrees cooler than they are now.

The Effects of Global Climate Change

According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2021, the failure to
mitigate and adapt to climate change is “the most impactful” risk facing
communities worldwide—ahead of even weapons of mass destruction and water
crises. Blame its cascading effects: As climate change transforms global
ecosystems, it affects everything from the places we live to the water we drink to
the air we breathe.

And though climate change affects everyone in some way, it’s indisputable that its
most negative impacts are borne disproportionately by certain
groups: women, children, people of color, Indigenous communities, and
the economically marginalized. Climate is a human rights issue.

A view of the Seine river

flood in Paris near Bir-Hakeim bridge, which reached a 30-year high in June 2016

Extreme Weather

As the earth’s atmosphere heats up, it collects, retains, and drops more water,
changing weather patterns and making wet areas wetter and dry areas drier.
Higher temperatures worsen and increase the frequency of many types of
disasters, including storms, floods, heat waves, and droughts. These events can
have devastating and costly consequences, jeopardizing access to clean drinking
water, fueling out-of-control wildfires, damaging property, creating hazardous-
material spills, polluting the air, and leading to loss of life.

Smog in Turin,
Italy
Air pollution and climate change are inextricably linked, with one exacerbating the
other. When the earth’s temperatures rise, not only does our air get dirtier—with
smog and soot levels rising accordingly—but it also becomes filled with more
allergenic pollutants, such as circulating mold (thanks to damp conditions from
extreme weather and more floods) and pollen (due to longer, stronger pollen
seasons).

The Aedes mosquito can

spread serious diseases such as dengue fever, yellow fever, and the Zika virus.

Health Risks

According to the World Health Organization, “climate change is expected to cause

approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year” between 2030 and 2050. As
global temperatures rise, so do the number of fatalities and illnesses from heat
stress, heatstroke, and cardiovascular and kidney disease. And as air pollution
worsens, so does respiratory health—particularly for the 300 million people living
with asthma worldwide; there’s more airborne pollen and mold to torment hay
fever and allergy sufferers too. Extreme weather events, such as severe storms
and flooding, can lead to injury, drinking water contamination, and storm damage
that may compromise basic infrastructure or lead to community displacement.
Indeed, historical models suggest the likelihood of being displaced by a disaster is
now 60 percent higher than it was four decades ago—and the largest increases in
displacement are being driven by weather- and climate-related events. (It’s worth
noting that displacement comes with its own health threats, such as increases in
urban crowding, trauma, social unrest, lack of clean water, and transmission of
infectious diseases.) A warmer, wetter world is also a boon for insect-borne
diseases such as dengue fever, West Nile virus, and Lyme disease.
Aerial of the Marshall
Islands landscape, which are feeling the effects of rising sea levels

Rising Seas

The Arctic is heating up twice as fast as any other place on the planet. As its ice
sheets melt into the seas, our oceans are on track to rise by anywhere from 0.95
to 3.61 feet by the end of this century, threatening coastal ecosystems and low-
lying areas. Island nations face particular risk, as do some of the world’s largest
cities, including New York City, Miami, Mumbai in India, and Sydney in Australia.

Fish and
corals near Limestone Island, Indonesia

Warmer, More Acidic Oceans

The earth’s oceans absorb between one-quarter and one-third of our fossil fuel
emissions and are now 30 percent more acidic than they were in preindustrial
times. This acidification poses a serious threat to underwater life, particularly
creatures with calcified shells or skeletons like oysters, clams, and coral. It can
have a devastating impact on shellfisheries, as well as the fish, birds,
and mammals that depend on shellfish for sustenance. In coastal
communities where fishing and seafood production sustain the local economy, this
impact extends to human populations as well, destroying livelihoods and opening
the door to economic ruin. Rising ocean temperatures are also altering the range
and population of underwater species and contributing to coral bleaching
events that are capable of killing entire reefs—ecosystems that support more
than 25 percent of all marine life.

Two polar bears

on a small ice floe

Imperiled Ecosystems

Climate change is increasing pressure on wildlife to adapt to changing habitats—

and fast. Many species are seeking out cooler climates and higher altitudes,
altering seasonal behaviors, and adjusting traditional migration patterns. These
shifts can fundamentally transform entire ecosystems and the intricate webs of
life that depend on them. As a result, according to a 2020 study, one-third of all
animal and plant species could face extinction by 2070. Another study showed
that mammals, fish, birds, reptiles, and other vertebrate species are disappearing
many times faster than they should be, a phenomenon that has been linked to
climate change, pollution, and deforestation—all interconnected threats. In early
2021, climate and biodiversity experts issued a joint report illustrating these
interconnections and urging simultaneous action on both fronts. On the flip side,
milder winters and longer summers have enabled some species to thrive, including
tree-killing insects that are endangering entire forests.

Climate Change Facts

Despite what climate deniers and fossil fuel lackeys claim—for instance, that the
science on global warming is “far from settled”—there’s nothing to debate: Climate
change is a reality. In the words of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC), the foremost international scientific body for the assessment of
the phenomenon, “[w]arming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the
1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to
millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice
have diminished, and sea level has risen.”

But you don’t have to be a climate scientist to understand how the world has
already changed. Our last decade—2010 to 2019—was hotter than any other
decade in at least the past 1,300 years. Second place goes to the decade before
it: 2000 to 2009. And the first year of the new decade, 2020, is tied with 2016
for the hottest individual year ever recorded. With this increased heat, of
course, have come more frequent and more intense weather-related disasters. The
first half of 2021 was marked by record heat, drought, and wildfires in the
western United States and Canada and by record rainfall and flooding in Europe.
And without immediate climate action, these records won’t be records for long:
They’ll be broken next year, or shortly thereafter. “The science is clear,” writes
Vijay Limaye, NRDC scientist. “These dangerous effects of climate change will
worsen each year that we fail to curb the pollution that is destabilizing our
planet.”

The responsibility to reverse this worrying trend lies with us. At least 97
percent of actively publishing climate scientists endorse the consensus position
that humans are the lead drivers of climate change. As the IPCC has stated—with
its highest degree of confidence—“It is extremely likely that more than half of
the observed increase in global average surface temperature from 1951 to 2010
was caused by the anthropogenic increase in GHG concentrations and other
anthropogenic forcings together.”

Climate Change Solutions

Paris Agreement

The Biden administration has committed to the principles set forth during the
2015 Paris Climate Change Conference, where nearly every nation on the earth
committed to actions aimed at shifting away from dirty fossil fuels and
toward cleaner, smarter energy options in order to limit global temperature rise
this century to 2 degrees Celsius—or 1.5 degrees Celsius, if possible.

On Earth Day in 2021, President Biden committed the United States to cutting its
carbon pollution by 50 to 52 percent from 2005 levels—nearly double what
President Obama had promised—and to do it by 2030, just five years later than
the original deadline set when the United States first joined the agreement.
While bold, the new targets are achievable, but only if Congress, states, and the
business sector join in to help us get there by doing things like setting a
national clean energy standard, electrifying our fleet of cars and trucks, curbing
methane emissions, and maximizing building efficiency.
Developments In Clean Energy Technology

Every year brings with it news of exciting breakthroughs in the production and
distribution of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, which are
becoming ever cheaper to generate and ever more popular with consumers,
businesses, utilities, and governments. At the same time, carmakers around the
world are working to develop new battery technologies that will result in the
replacement of hundreds of millions of gas-powered cars with zero-emissions
vehicles. These trends should be encouraged by smart, forward-looking public
policy—such as Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, which ties the post-pandemic
economic recovery in the United States to projects that will curb climate change
while putting tens of millions of unemployed or underemployed people to work in
good-paying jobs.

Climate Action At Home

Tackling global climate change is a Herculean task, one that depends on

international consensus and the efforts of communities, companies, and individuals
alike. To that end, many states, from California to Iowa, are championing clean
energy industries, such as solar and wind; U.S. cities are taking action to mitigate
climate change and bolster climate resilience while placing equity at the forefront;
and corporations—including some of the world’s largest multinationals—
are pledging to change the way they do business to achieve net-zero emissions by
2040.

There are myriad ways that you can help too. You can join, amplify, or otherwise
support the international youth climate movement that has emerged in the last
few years as a galvanized response to government inaction; in rallies and marches
around the world, this movement is letting leaders know that delay on climate
action will no longer be tolerated. You can also pick up the phone to call
Congress about environmental policies that matter, supporting renewable energy
projects, and prioritizing fuel and energy efficiency that will not only curb
individual carbon emissions but bolster clean alternatives to dirty fossil fuels. We
must all step up—and now.