By: Alyssa Verna Ybanez
Climate change deals with the weather. It is a change in the weather pattern over a long period of time. Everyone knows about climate change, or global warming, because it has been quite rampant nowadays. Climate change affects all of our lives and the life of our planet. Not only does it affect humans, but plants and animals as well. Climate change has a big negative impact on our natural resources. We need to make a change in order for global warming to slowly decease. To do that, we should first learn what the causes of climate change are.
Causes of Climate Change
Solar variabiltity – the sun’s energy output is constantly changing, causing the earth to become hotter. The sun is our major source of heat, but this heat is becoming warmer due to the irradiance of the sun’s emissions.
Human Activities – Human activities like driving vehicles, burning fossil fuels, clearing land, and agriculture highly contribute to climate change. Driving vehicles and burning fossil fuels releases pollution and smog into the atmosphere. When fossil fuels are burned, carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is released into the air and it gets trapped in earth’s atmosphere causing the earth to heat up. The clearing of land and agriculture are causes of climate change because when land is cleared of trees and plants, there will be nothing to absorb the excess carbon dioxide in the air and turn it into oxygen for us to breathe.
Greenhouse Gases – Due to human activities, several greenhouse gases are emitted into the earth’s atmosphere. The concentration of these greenhouse gases in the atmosphere causes the “greenhouse effect” to happen. The “greenhouse effect” is term for when heat or radiation from the sun gets trapped in the atmosphere of the planet and causes it to become warmer. These greenhouse gases cause the same thing to happen and that’s why climate change is becoming a big problem.
How to Suppress the Effects of Climate Change
Use renewable energy sources – Try switching to clean energy sources like: solar, wind, or hydro power.
Be energy efficient – Unplug any appliances that are not being used. Turn the lights off when you’re not using it. Save energy as best as you can.
Plant trees – Replace the trees that have been cut down for clearing of land and manufacturing purposes.
Reduce, reuse, recycle – Abide by the three R’s to decrease the amount of pollution in the air as well as in the ocean.
Carpool, take the bus, or walk – By doing these things, we can lessen the amount of pollution and smog emissions in the atmosphere.
Climate Change 