Climate change includes both global warming driven by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases and the resulting large-scale shifts in weather patterns.
Fossil fuel burning (coal, oil, and natural gas) for energy consumption is the main source of these emissions, with additional contributions from agriculture, deforestation, and manufacturing.
The largest driver of warming is the emission of greenhouse gases, of which more than 90% are carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane.
Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, nations collectively agreed to keep warming “well under 2.0 °C” through mitigation efforts. Limiting warming to 1.5 °C would require halving emissions by 2030 and achieving near-zero emissions by 2050.
Responding to climate change involves -
Mitigation and Adaptation
Mitigation
limiting climate change – consists of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and removing them from the atmosphere; methods include the development and deployment of low-carbon energy sources such as wind and solar, a phase-out of coal, enhanced energy efficiency, reforestation, and forest preservation.
Adaptation
consists of adjusting to actual or expected climate, such as through improved coastline protection, better disaster management, assisted colonisation, and the development of more resistant crops.
THERE IS NO PLANET B
The Earth is estimated to have lost about half of its shallow water corals in the past 30 years.
A fifth of the Amazon has disappeared in just 50 years.
More than 85 percent of the area of wetlands has been lost.
About 75% of the earth’s ice-free land surface has already been significantly altered.
Populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians have, on average, declined by 60%.
SOLUTIONS
Eliminate fossil fuels
Tropical forest restoration
Private sector to back net zero
Sea and Ocean preservation
Shift to renewable sources of energy
