What is Climate change and what are its effects?

Climate change is the long-term shift in the Earth's average temperatures and weather conditions.

The world is now more than 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late 19th Century.

While the global average temperature increase of 1.1°C might not sound much, it has already had a

huge effect on the environment, including-

- more frequent and intense extreme weather, such as heatwaves and heavy rainfall

- rapid melting of glaciers and ice sheets, contributing to sea-level rise

- ocean warming, forest fires and droughts

The July of 2023 was so warm that it may have been the hottest month in 120,000 years while

average September temperatures smashed the previous record by 0.5°C.

Climate scientists agree that such extreme weather events will likely grow more frequent and

intense in the coming years unless something is done, on a persistent and planet-wide scale, to rein

in global temperatures.

Just how much reining-in are they talking about? To prevent worsening and potentially irreversible

effects of climate change, the world’s average temperature should not exceed that of preindustrial

times by more than 1.5°C.

Why 1.5 °C?

The 1.5°C threshold was the stretch target established in the Paris Agreement in 2015, a treaty in

which 195 nations pledged to tackle climate change. The agreement aims to limit global warming to

"well below" 2°C by the end of the century, and "pursue efforts" to keep warming within the safer

limit of 1.5°C.

Why 1.5°C above "preindustrial levels"?

The treaty did not define a particular preindustrial period, though scientists generally consider the

years from 1850 to 1900 to be a reliable reference; this time predates humans’ use of fossil fuels and

is also the earliest period when global observations of land and sea temperatures are available.

During this period, the average global temperature, while swinging up and down in certain years,

generally measured around 13.5°C.

Industrialization led to rapidly growing levels of greenhouse gases because of fossil fuel burning.

These gases trap the energy from the Sun within the atmosphere, heating up the planet and leading

to global warming.

It is important to know that the lower the target for an increase in temperature, the lower the risks

of climate impacts.

What should be done?

To hold the planet’s long-term average temperature to below the 1.5°C threshold, the world will

have to reach net zero emissions by the year 2050. This means that, in terms of the emissions

released by the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas, the entire world will have to remove as much as

it puts into the atmosphere.

At an individual level, there are things that can be done to help bring down one’s personal

emissions, and potentially chip away at rising global temperatures.

- Efficient energy conservation

- Support renewable energy adoption

- Switch to eco-friendly modes of transportation

- Reduce, reuse, recycle

- Sustainable consumer choices