Since the mid-1800s, when the Industrial Revolution began, factories and other new technologies have polluted the environment around us. This caused not only animals to become endangered, but also caused the temperature to change. It didn’t happen right away, but too much pollution (gas from factories, cars, etc) eventually caused the globe to get warmer.
“It is undeniable that human activities have produced the atmospheric gases that have trapped more of the Sun’s energy in the Earth system,” said NASA. “This extra energy has warmed the atmosphere, ocean, and land, and widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and biosphere have occurred”.
Nature itself can cause climate change, but since the mid-1800s, human activity has caused the temperature to rise at a rapid rate. So what can we do to help prevent climate change?
Climate change can happen naturally (not caused by human activity). An example could be the Ice Age, when the Earth was covered in ice. But human activity has increased the speed of climate change. Now, the Earth is warming up, and this could be dangerous. Recent flash floods have proved how dangerous it can be for the climate to change. “This weather whiplash, from drought to flood, is yet another example of human-induced climate change and its impact on extreme weather, one we have seen play out in California multiple times in recent years, as a multi-year drought was followed by atmospheric river-fueled flooding and mudslides, and then came the deadly wildfires in January,” said Derek Van Dam, a meteorologist at CNN in CNN 10.
“From the measured impacts of increases in these gases, there is no question that increased greenhouse gas levels warm Earth in response,” said NASA.
This shows us that indeed, climate change is happening. Methane gas, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide are the three major greenhouse gases that contribute greatly to global warming and climate change. “Climate change is one of the greatest challenges we face as technology continues to advance. Many modern innovations, such as artificial intelligence, rely on massive servers that consume large amounts of energy and require cooling systems powered by fossil fuels,” said A2V science teacher Ms. Morningstar. “As our energy demand grows, we strain ecosystems, leading to more severe storms and unpredictable weather patterns. To address this, we must save energy, rely more on renewable resources, and make choices that reduce our carbon footprint.”
Climate change or global warming is sometimes extremely dangerous. As mentioned before, a flash flood happened in Texas, killing at least 132 people. Not only does global warming cause flash floods, but it also causes droughts. They have been a problem in California and some very hot states. Not only are these drastic climate changes harmful to animals, but they are also harmful to us. These natural disasters have harmed and killed humans as well.
Climate change is very dangerous when it starts causing these natural disasters. They can kill humans and animals that are important to the ecosystem. Climate change also causes the ocean to rise, warm up, and increase ocean acidification. But people can help by using electric cars and not cars that use fossil fuels, using less air conditioning and heaters, and using renewable energy instead of fossil fuels to power machines and other cool devices. This is not so simple, but over time, little by little, this can help the climate a lot.
