“The issue of climate change is one that we ignore at our own peril.” -Barack Obama
How Climate Change Impacts the Planet
If you’ve been paying attention to the news at all in the past couple of years, you’ll have noticed several natural disasters occurring across the globe. The disastrous hurricanes wiping out coasts in the United States, the prolonged flooding in South Asia, and the raging flames of the California wildfires are all causing destruction and devastation. Why are such terrible weather events happening lately? It’s like the world is going to end! Oh, wait.
That’s climate change.
Climate change impacts the planet in many ways. From the polar regions, to the oceans, and even to the forests, climate change effects multiple different regions.
All the frozen water on Earth, called the cryosphere, is extremely vulnerable to the warming of the planet. WWF.org says that in the last 100 years, the average air temperatures in the Arctic region have increased by about 5°C (The Effects Of). It is said that within the next few decades, there will be no summer sea ice covering this region. The Antarctic ice sheet, the largest mass of ice on the planet, contains 90% of all the fresh water on Earth’s surface. The massive sheet extends almost 5.4 million square miles; roughly the area of the United States and Mexico combined. Some areas of the Antarctic Peninsula are warming at alarming rates. The melting of the ice sheets drastically impacts the sea levels.
Oceans absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide. According to EDF.org, about a third of all the carbon dioxide emissions are absorbed by the ocean (How Climate Change). This results in a chemistry change and in turn makes the ocean very acidic. On top of this, the rising sea levels are a major issue. The same source says that rising sea levels make storms more capable of causing intense damage. The more the ice sheets melt, the higher the sea level will rise. The more water there is in the ocean, the more water there is to evaporate, which powers extreme weather events like hurricanes and intensifies them. In addition, normally warm and dry places are experiencing worse droughts and severe wildfires.
The Earth is home to many forests. These forests are home to numerous plant species, along with animal species. However, most importantly, they soak up the carbon dioxide in the air. This is significant because the absorption of this gas decreases the amount of the harmful greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Through the human activity of deforestation, the forest sizes are decreased, resulting in less amounts of carbon dioxide being absorbed. According to WWF.org, when trees are dying, they emit carbon dioxide into atmosphere, adding to the build-up of greenhouse gases. Forests are vital to the safety of the atmosphere, along with preserving the abundance of different species.
The polar regions, oceans, and forests are all impacted by climate change. This is the explanation for the intense weather events occurring recently, and there seems to be no end in sight. We are killing our biomes. Before you know it, there will be no ice in the polar regions, no forests, and we’ll need to wear HazMat suits for our next dip in the ocean.
“The Effects Of Climate Change.” WWF, WWF, 18 May 2017, www.wwf.org.uk/effectsofclimatechange.
“How Climate Change Plunders the Planet.” Environmental Defense Fund, 2019, www.edf.org/climate/how-climate-change-plunders-planet.
Image:
Peter Jovic Photography, peterjovicphotography.com.au
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