Things you should know about climate change

Sema Fonkem 21-05-2022
Climate change has become a very important issue in recent years as it is negatively affecting human lives and our environment. Climate change refers to the changes in environmental temperatures and global weather patterns (www. sustainabilitymag.com 2022). The change which can be identified in the increase of temperatures can be linked to the burning of fossil fuels by humans for the production of oil and petroleum products as well as greenhouse gas emissions. Over the last century, climate change has been a major threat to human health and also has a huge impact on our ecosystem. It is also the cause of the extinction of many plant and animal species. As the earth continues to heat up and the Ozone layer deteriorates, our agricultural, water supply and ecosystems are affected negatively. In the case of South Africa, over the past decades climate change has been mostly witnessed through shortage of water supply, heavy storms and floods that cause landslides in the coastline regions and variable weather patterns throughout the country (www.climatelinks.org/countries/south-africa 2022).
Global warming remains one of the biggest problems faced by humanity and besides the human causes, there are some natural causes as well to look at. A first example will be volcanic eruptions. Volcanoes release large amounts of dust, ash, vapour and Sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. When Sulfur dioxide reaches the upper levels of the atmosphere, the dust and ash particles block the sun rays from reaching to ground and this causes the earth surface to remain cool giving room for cooler temperatures. Carbon dioxide released by volcanoes also cause warming of the atmosphere because it is a greenhouse gas (Akhmadi 2018). These eruptions occur in a few days but affect climate change in a long period of time. Another serious natural cause is Ocean Currents. Ocean water covers 71% of the earth surface and absorbs twice that amount of heat. Ocean water acts as storage for heat radiation. When the sun heat rays touch the ocean surface, the heat is absorbed by the ocean which later then evaporates as heated water molecules into the sky. This increases the temperature in the surrounding air. The water molecules form rain and storms which are the main cause of floods and landslides.
Apart from the burning of Fossil Fuels by humans, other human activities such as agriculture, deforestation and construction of modern infrastructures are also a cause of climate change because these activities affect the amount sun light that is reflected. Buildings for example reflect lesser sun light. This means the earth surface is exposed to more heat and this leads to increasing atmospheric temperature. Another example will be the difference in temperature in the urban and rural areas. The urban areas turn to be hotter because of human activity including movements while the rural areas which are less populated remain cooler. In South Africa for instance, one the main human activity that causes warning is the production of electrical and heat energy. Most of these industrial companies are placed close
areas of human settlement areas where over population is also a big problem. The transportation industry also contributes to the cause of global warming as motor vehicles, locomotive trains and ships also produce carbon dioxide emission when in use. The pollution that originates from greenhouse gas emissions or the burning of fuel products or coal is a health hazard and threat to human existence. Industrialisation since the early 1900s has been one of the major causes of global warming and the most threatening factor of our climate system. Due to the industrial revolution, wood became of very high demand, needed for the creation of heat energy needed for operating industrial machineries and this has been the main reason behind deforestation (Akhmadi 2018).
We as humans have a sole responsibility to prevent further damage our planet by helping to solve the climate change problems which we are all facing. In order for us to do so, we have to educate everyone on the impact that global warming has on our ecosystem and advise them on the urgent need to implement available solutions. Some of the solutions include reducing deforestation or putting a stop to it and promote programs such as the planting of trees in our urban areas or replanting trees in areas where deforestation has been carried out over the years. Another solution is to encourage the use of solar energy products, renewable energy source such as windmill and bioenergy. There should also be more recycling of waste, simple daily practices such as switching off electronic devices when not in use, using more cold water instead of hot water for showers and laundry, using fluorescent light bulbs, use of energy efficient devices and driving our cars less will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions we have daily (www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/climate-change/solutions-climate-change/ 2022). These are solutions that will greatly slow the pace of global warming and keep our planet safe for ourselves, generations to come, the thousands of animal and plant species that could face extinction. While saving our planet, we will also at the same time be saving a great deal of our money as of most these solutions present a more cost effective way of life.