Climate Change

By Kirrah Kuschert

What is climate change?

Climate change is a change in the properties of the climate system that persists for several decades or longer—usually at least 30 years. These properties include averages, variability and extremes. Climate change may be due to natural processes, such as changes in the Sun’s radiation, volcanoes or internal variability in the climate system, or due to human influences such as changes in the composition of the atmosphere or land use.

What causes climate change?

Most climate scientists agree the main cause of the current global warming trend is human expansion of the greenhouse effect — warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space.

Certain gases in the atmosphere block heat from escaping. Long-lived gases that remain semi-permanently in the atmosphere and do not respond physically or chemically to changes in temperature are described as “forcing” climate change. Gases, such as water vapour, which respond physically or chemically to changes in temperature are seen as feedbacks.

What does climate change effect?

Global climate change has already had observable effects on the environment. Glaciers have shrunk, ice on rivers and lakes is breaking up earlier, plant and animal ranges have shifted and trees are flowering sooner.

Effects that scientists had predicted in the past would result from global climate change are now occurring: loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise and longer, more intense heat waves.

What are some Solutions to climate change?

The one real solution to climate change is urgent government action. We can all do our bit to help, by being more energy efficient, but only governments acting in concert, have the power and resources to avoid the disaster that is predicted if global warming is allowed to continue unchecked.