Global Warming
What is global warming?
The total annual global temperature rise during the Industrial Revolution has been a little over 1 degree Celsius, or over 2 degrees Fahrenheit. It increased on average by 0.07 degrees Celsius (0.13 degrees Fahrenheit) per 10 years between 1880—the year that accurate recordkeeping started—and 1980. The rate of growth, however, has more than doubled since 1981: Over the past 40 years, the yearly global temperature has increased by 0.18 degrees Celsius, or 0.32 degrees Fahrenheit, every decade.
The outcome? a world with unprecedented heat. Since 2005, nine of the ten warmest years on record since 1880 have happened, and the last five warmest years have all happened since 2015. Deniers of climate change have claimed that the rate of increase in global temperatures has "paused" or "slowed," however several studies, including a 2018 research published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, have refuted this assertion. People all across the world are already suffering from the effects of global warming.
In order to prevent a future in which the world's daily existence is marked by its worst, most catastrophic effects—the extreme droughts, wildfires, floods, tropical storms, and other calamities that we collectively refer to as climate change—we must restrict global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2040. All people experience these consequences in one way or another, but the poor, the economically disadvantaged, and people of color experience them the most keenly because these groups are frequently those most affected by poverty, eviction, hunger, and social unrest.
What causes global warming?
When carbon dioxide (CO2) and other air pollutants build up in the atmosphere, they absorb sunlight and solar rays that have already reflected off the surface of the earth. Normally, this radiation would escape into space, but because these pollutants may linger in the atmosphere for many years or even decades, they trap the heat and make the planet hotter. The greenhouse effect is the result of these heat-trapping pollutants, notably carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapors, and synthetic fluorinated gases, which are referred to as greenhouse gases.
Although the earth's climate has changed several times over the past 800,000 years due to natural cycles and fluctuations, our current era of global warming is solely attributable to human activity, specifically the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, gasoline, and natural gas, which creates the greenhouse effect. The largest single source of greenhouse emissions in the US is transportation. Industrial activity (28%) and electricity production are the next closest things (22 percent).
To stop hazardous climate change, emissions must be drastically reduced, and fossil fuel alternatives must be used globally. The good news is that nations all around the world have publicly committed to reducing their emissions by setting new criteria and creating new policies to meet or even surpass those targets as part of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. The bad news is that we're not moving along quickly enough. According to scientists, we need to reduce global carbon emissions by as much as 40% by 2030 if we want to escape the worst effects of climate change. To make that happen, the world community needs to act swiftly and decisively. We need to electrify our cars and trucks, decarbonize electricity generation by equitably shifting from fossil fuel-based production to renewable energy sources like wind and solar, and increase the energy efficiency of our buildings, appliances, and industries.
