- What is climate change?
- External causes of climate change
- Internal causes of climate change
- Effects and consequences of climate change
- Does climate change have a solution?
We explain what climate change is and what are the causes of this phenomenon. Its effects, consequences and possible solutions.
What is climate change?
We call climate change the variation of stable weather patterns over an extended period of time, which can range from a few decades to millions of years. It is usually accompanied byprocesses adjustments that often involve extreme weather events, which can have a high impact on the livelihoods offlora, fauna and the humanity.
Climate is the set of environmental conditions of a given place, and is characterized by being the average of the weather conditions, calculated by observations carried out over a long period (between 10 and 30 years).
The geological exploration of different lands of our planet has revealed to us that their climatic conditions in previous times were quite different from the current ones: for example, areas that today are considered deserts were under water, and others that are currently leafy grasslands they were deserted. These evidences have confirmed the fact that theweather It is not a fixed instance, but varies with theweather. In addition, scientists have been able to determine the factors that hasten this change.
In recent times, the term “climate change” has come into force to refer also to the impact of human activities on the chemical and physical balance of the planet, which would have had an impact on global warming (due, among other factors, to the “greenhouse effect”Produced by the abnormal accumulation of certain gases in theatmosphere) and, indirectly, in the change of the climatic conditions of the Earth.
The debate on climate change is constant: there are sectors that raise the alarm of the imminentdisasters weather conditions to come (some of which would have already been perceived: longer-than-normal hurricane seasons,earthquakes, floods and unforeseen droughts, etc.), accusing the hand of man and the industry as directly responsible for the rise of the temperature planetary.
Other sectors, on the other hand, believe that the real impact of humanity is minimal in terms of planetary history, and that in reality we are simply witnessing an ice age that is coming to an end, so that theglobal warming and climate change are part of a natural stage in the planet's meteorological process. According to these same sectors, it is not true that it is imperative to implement achange radical in the ways of life and obtainingEnergy of humanity.
The causes of climate change can be classified into two groups, according to their origin, external and internal.
See also:Greenhouse effect
External causes of climate change
External causes are those that come from outside planet Earth, such as:
- Solar variations. Changes in heat and energy emissions from the Sun, according to their stellar cycles (11 years).
- Orbital variations. The Earth's orbit presents very slight variations that, accumulated over time, alter the distribution of solar radiation on its surface, thus allowing the appearance or end of glacial and interglacial eras.
- Meteorites. The impact of massive objects from space on Earth is powerful enough to alter the climate, lifting large amounts of dust, ash and greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere, thus blocking access to the Earth. sunlight for years (an artificial glaciation) or destroy the atmosphere and allow its direct entry.
Internal causes of climate change
Internal causes are those that are due to factors within planet Earth, such as:
- Continental drift. Themovement of the tectonic plates on the planet alters the position of continents and bring climatic changes in them.
- The atmospheric composition. The presence of gases that destroy theozone layer (allowing direct solar entry) or that prevent the removal of heat of the atmosphere (greenhouse effect) affect global warming.
- Human intervention. According to some specialists, the human industrial activity of a century and a half ago would have thrown enough polluting gases into the atmosphere and waters to hasten the process of global warming.
Effects and consequences of climate change
Climate changes affect life directly, since life adapts to its environment and varies gradually with the climate.
The drastic and immediate changes are the most worrying: the imbalance of temperatures and pressures Atmospheric conditions can generate many violent and destructive climatic phenomena such as cyclones, hurricanes, storms, or prolonged droughts.
Another worrying phenomenon is the melting of the poles and the planet's ice reserves, whose content would add to theWater of theoceans and would eventually submerge a significant portion of the mainland, obliterating cities whole.
Does climate change have a solution?
Some measures that man can take in relation to climate change are:
- Decreased burning fossil fuels that they releaseCO2to the atmosphere, and its replacement by clean alternative energies (called “green energies”).
- The development ofalternatives sustainable energy sources (such as solar energy, wind, geothermal).
- The development of sustainable agricultural patterns that do not imply the accumulation of large quantities of cattle (and the methane from its emissions, the main gas that causes the greenhouse effect).