We’ve all heard the term “climate change” before - it’s currently one of the most discussed topics in the world, and one of the biggest problems too. But what exactly is climate change? And why should we even care?
Let’s start from the very basics. First of all, let’s establish two terms that are often confused: “global warming” and “climate change”. Global warming refers to the rising of global temperatures due to an increase in the rate of the greenhouse effect. On the other hand, climate change refers to the change in the climate due to global warming. Put simply, global warming is the increase in global temperatures, while climate change is a result of global warming.
But why is the planet warming in the first place? It’s to do with a process that occurs in our atmosphere, known as the greenhouse effect. This is the process that traps some of the Sun’s heat in our atmosphere, and is caused by substances found in the atmosphere known as “greenhouse gases”. As its name suggests, the greenhouse effect works more or less like a greenhouse; sunlight passes through our atmosphere like it would through the glass panels of a greenhouse. Some of the heat escapes back into space, while the greenhouse gases prevent the rest from escaping, trapping it within our atmosphere. This keeps our planet warm.
It’s a common misconception that the greenhouse effect is a bad thing, but it’s actually a natural process that has occurred since before humans even started polluting the Earth. In fact, without the greenhouse effect entirely, the Earth would be too cold for any living thing to survive - it is believed that temperatures could reach -18°C (-0.4°F)! The only reason that the greenhouse effect is becoming a problem is because we humans have significantly increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which is causing too much of the greenhouse effect to take place. This means that the lower atmosphere is trapping more heat than it naturally does, which is why temperatures are rising. Think of it like making the glass in the greenhouse thicker - it would make it even more difficult for heat to escape, trapping more of it in the greenhouse.
The climate crisis can be a pretty difficult concept to grasp, and this is just the introduction to the introduction! But don’t worry, we’ll break each topic down and explain it to you as simply as we can, one bit at a time. Next week we’ll be posting our first article on climate news, and the week after that, we’ll get to meet the greenhouse gases and take a closer look at what’s causing greenhouse gas emissions to increase - you might be surprised!
Credits:
Image - Getty Images/iStockphoto
Information - Usborne Climate Crisis for Beginners, National Geographic Society
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