For now, we are safe to say that climate change is not an inescapable trend, but it will be soon.
Even if we cut off all human emissions and all the heat-trapping gases were stopped today, we would continue to feel the effects of climate change for another few decades. This event is due to the ocean currents, which bring excess heat stored in the ocean back to the surface. Once all of this trapped heat has radiated out of the Earth, the temperature will stabilize. Experts have reason to believe this trapped heat will not exceed 0.5 degrees celsius. Hypothetically speaking, if we were to cut off all sources of greenhouse gases, natural processes would remove all excess gases from the atmosphere and the Earth would gradually stabilize itself.
This situation has gotten many people to pick sides, some saying climate change is fake and others assuming the world is going to end if we do nothing about it. Some people have proposed methods to cooling the Earth, better known as geoengineering. Some proposals involve injecting the upper atmosphere with reflective particles to scatter and reflect sunlight into space. Another 'solution' is injecting the ocean with iron to promote the fast growth of phytoplankton blooms. Which can draw the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis. In theory, these are plausible solutions however, there is the matter of the unknown side effects and legality in geoengineering.
"...research to date has not determined whether there are large-scale geoengineering approaches that would produce significant benefits, or whether those benefits would substantially outweigh the detriments. Indeed, geoengineering must be viewed with caution because manipulating the Earth system has considerable potential to trigger adverse and unpredictable consequences." - The American Meteorological society
Many scientists believe that at this rate, Earth's global temperature may surpass 6 degrees Celsius, three times the amount we were told not to go overdue to the consequences. This has lead many of them to believe Earth may reach a tipping point, a point where the changes are irreversible. Even in light of these statements, there are still many hopefuls who believe it is not too late to limit the damage, and they believe the solution lies in two steps. Mitigation and adaptation. Reducing the flow of greenhouse gases and learning to live with the changes already set in motion.
The following changes are already set in motion:
By 2045, California aims to be fully carbon-neutral.
The model S Tesla is one of America's top-selling cars.
The cost for a new wind or solar farm in the U.S is lower than operating a coal plant.
While these changes are sure to help out, climate change is bigger than that. It is already here. It is no longer a matter of stopping it but preventing any further damage that it could cause. On October 8th, 2018, we were given a 12-year ultimatum. It has now been two years since that day, meaning we are only ten years away from the deadline. On the same day, the U.N. climate science body released an IPCC stating the best way to limit the global warming temperature from rising above 1.5 degrees celsius. It involved cutting the net human carbon dioxide emissions by 45% by 2030 and further cutting emissions to net 0% by 2050.
Many scientists were quick to clear up confusion on the set doomsday of 2030 by explaining climate change won't bring an abrupt end to our world if we fail to reduce emissions by 45% or fail to keep the global temperature from reaching 1.5 degrees celsius. The consequence is that we will experience many climate catastrophes on our way to 2100. However, every year that we delay making changes, carbon-capture efforts will have to be more dramatic. Each year that we do nothing, the Earth faces more consequences, and some of those consequences will no longer be able to be undone.
Many people are under the impression climate change is not an urgent issue but something they can leave for a later generation to deal with. What they don't know is that the effects are immediate. Starting with the deaths of thousands of people across the world. Through malaria, dengue, mosquito-borne diseases and much more. Severe climate impacts are affecting food production worldwide. Many regions in America, Asia and Africa are becoming too hot to grow grains. Rice production in coastal regions of Bangladesh and China is at risk as the soil is getting saltier due to rising sea levels. This is just the beginning. If global warming continues at this rate, food prices worldwide will go up, and some countries will not be able to produce enough food to feed their populations.
All the evidence points to one reality. We need to start cutting emissions now. It is easier to keep the CO2 in the ground than it is to pull it out of the air later on when it becomes too much.
The 2030 'ultimatum' was set to create a sense of urgency in the people to start making changes. Even if the world is not ending soon, we are already experiencing drastic effects. Like a hotter world, monster storms, diseases, frequent fires and floods.
“It’s never too late to do as much as we can, every fraction of a degree matters,” she says. “There are of course no magical dates for saving the world.” - Greta Thunberg.
We should aim to create a better world, where we no longer exploit the planet for resources as though there is an endless supply and work together to live within our means. Every effort counts and helps in defeating climate change, and even if our 'deadline' passes, it will not be too late because everything we do reduces human suffering.
“History does not end, the future is not preordained and it is never too late to do the right thing.” - Professor Mick Hulme.
Yorumlar