There are often many questions around Climate Change.

Is it Real?

How do we know?

Weather changes all the time– how can we be certain this isn’t just the weather being unpredictable as always?

Climate Change and Global Warming are two key parts of what the planet is currently experiencing.

Earth’s atmosphere is made up of something called Greenhouse Gases: a combined mixture of water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and other gases that create a blanket-like atmosphere around our globe. This atmosphere traps some of the suns energy and provides heat on our planet, sustaining life.

With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, humans have begun producing goods and services through the use of first steam, then coal and petroleum to power factories. The burning of  fossil fuels  and addition of industrial wastes increases the Greenhouse Gas Effect by trapping additional gasses in the air, which in turn amplifies the warming of the planet. 

 

Feedback loops are processes that make the impacts of key climate factors stronger or weaker. This starts a cyclical chain reaction that repeats.

We currently are experiencing an Amplifying Feedback Loop caused mainly by human-created emissions.

What Causes Climate Change?

  • Human activities caus carbon emissions from the burning of Fossil Fuels 
    • Transportation
    • Industrial production
    • Industrial Waste + byproducts
  • Carbon emissions cause an increase in temperature.
    • Carbon
    • Methane
    • Nitrous Oxide
    • CFC – non organic chemicals
  • This warming melts sea-ice.

  • This creates a larger surface of the sea, which is darker

  • The darker surface absorbs more heat, instead of bouncing light ( ice )

  • Heat absorption then contributes to further increasing the temperature.

  • Emissions continue and the cycle builds.

Effects of Climate Change

“Increasing magnitudes of warming increase the likelihood of severe, pervasive, and irreversible impacts.” – IPPC

 

Each region of the planet will have different effects, but all regions are experiencing issues that are damaging the ecosystems, including the human infrasture, of those areas.

  • Sea water rise
  • Flooding
  • Coastal Erosion
  • severe  and frequen weather patterns
  • Increased wildfire risks 
  • heatwaves
  • Droughts 
  • Agricultural damage

 

What is Needed Next?

The next step is to Show Up and Speak Out.  Check out our Solutions Resources Page to see different ways you can contribute towards countering climate change and global warming and reverse the Amplifying Feedback Loop:

  • Revitalizing Infrastructure to utilize renewable and green energy sources
  • Equitable restructuring centering marginalized voices
  • Fostering green spaces
  • Building walkable cities, towns, and villages
  • Revitalizing land through regrowth of Native species