Causes of climate change
There is a lot of causes for climate change, but all the causes for modern climate change are essentially based on what humans do. What causes climate change, what is the greenhouse effect and how is that related to human actions?
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Climate change is caused by too much greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and the reason there is more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere now than usual is beacause of humans - human actions. Many things we humans do cause greenhouse gas emissions, for example: producing; producing electricity, clothes, food, plastic etcetera all causes a lot of greenhouse gas emissions, but we still need food, and electricity and so on, so we just need to produce these things in a more sustainable way. Transportation: boats, cars, planes etcetera, all emit loads and loads of greenhouse gasses, and the best sollution to lower these emissions is to use less transportation, and use more public transport when you do need to use transportation. Deforestation is also an example of things we humans do that causes more greenhouse gases. We burn and chop a lot of forest, which releases the CO2 that is stored in the trees in the forest, and then we use the space from the forests to expand agricultural production which again causes more greenhouse gas emissions. Many other actions also cause climate change, but these are some examples.
How does greenhouse gas emissions cause climate change?
The atmosphere is necessary for life on earth, it prevents ultraviolet radiation, it reduces the temperature difference between day and night, and it keeps the earth warm through the greenhouse effect, according to National Geographic Society. And it's the last one of these that are interesting when we talk about climate change - the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is a process were greenhouse gases trap heat near the earth's surface, according to NASA. So when we get more greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, it traps more of the heat from the sun so it stays here on earth. You can think of it as layers of blankets. The more greenhouse gases that ends up in the atmosphere, the thicker and more layers the blanket keeping the earth warm gets.
Consequences of climate change
The consequences of climate change will be massive, and they are already happening. You might not be affected yet, but you will be if we keep emiting this much greenhouse gases that we currently do. But what consequences will there be?
Climate change will and are having massive consequences.
Climate is the general weather in an area over a longer period of time, according to the United Nations. So climate is the general weather in an area, and therefore when the general wheater there changes, we call it climate change. The changes of climate can happen over a very long amount of time, but the changes we see now are happening beacause of humans on a global scale, and it's happening at an extreme rate. The modern changes in the global climate and unique climates scattered across the globe will have massive consequences for humans, animals and the earth as a whole.
Global climate change is causing more extreme, long lasting and intense weather and storms that are also becomeing more frequent, like: big hurricanes, huge floods, long lasting droughts, heavy downfall, heatwaves on land and in the ocean, according to NASA, including a lot more. These events are becoming more frequent, as well as they're getting more extreme, as climate change happens.
These climate events will destroy a lot of nature and infrastructure, which can be very expensive to repair. And animals might lose their habitat due to the extreme weather, and might become endangered and that can cause troubles in the foodchain.
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For humans, when the climate changes, it will become more difficult to get food and water, this can happen due to decline in water sources from glaciers and snow, and droughts and heatwaves can make it difficult to obtain and find water according to the United Nations. It will also become harder to grow crops, due to lack of water, and extreme weather and temperatures can easily destroy all the crops, ruining a whole harvest. CHange in climate can cause troubles in the foodchain, and in areas where the foodchain is harshely affected, the local people there might lose their form of food and lose what they depen on to nurture themselves. Many people can also lose their homes, jobs and everything they have, if they get affected by climate change, and therfore become poor. Many people might become poor due to war and conflict, which the risk of is increased when climate change affects their country or home.
And, climate change causes more climate change.
When we emit greenhouse gases, natural disasters can happen, and emit more greenhouse gases. For example: when forest gets destroyed by humans or natural disasters, they emit even more greenhouse gases in the form of CO2, beacause trees naturally store CO2, and that gets emitted when the trees die, again causing more natural disasters. Not just that, but when cities get destroyed, people lose their homes and infrastructures get ruined, they will need to be repaired, people might have to move, and this isn't just really expensive, it also needs a lot of resources that emit even more greenhouse gases.
All in all, climate change will have many different and big consequences, that will be very bad for many people, and animals. There will also be a lot of consequences that is going to happen, that I didn't mention here, but these are some of the biggest and main ones.
Here are two causes and consequences of climate change:
War and climate change
War and climate change have a lot in common. But what? How do they relate?
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Over 5 prosent of all greenhouse gas emissions are related to war and militaries, according to The Guardian(2024).
War causes climate change, but climate change also causes war.
War can cause climate change because it destroys a lot of nature, infrastructure and cities. Infrastrucutre and big cities is expensive to build, and they also need a lot of resources to be built, and that causes a lot of greenhouse gas emissions. Not to miss that war itself from all the vehicles, resources needed for healtcare, supplies, fuel and such needed for it to happen can alone cause a lot of greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate change can also cause war, climate change can cause war indirectly, if there is special needs for a resource or if a natural disaster happens in an area. Conflict might occur due to these scenarios, and conflict can become big, and eventualy escalate into a war. Conflict can happen due to a disagreement on something, and that something can be over a resource, place or such, that can have roots from climate change or a climate event.
The poor are also becoming more vulnerable, as they have to flee if neccesarry, they might move to a place that is harshly affected by climate change, and the living standards there will most likely be terrible. If they flee they might have to live with a lot of other people in small, isolated and tight places, with bad acces to food, water, electricity and even toilets, potentiay leading to disease, illness and sickness.
According to the United Nations, "over 1.5 billion people still do not have basic sanitation services, such as private toilets or latrines", as of 2022.
Poverty and climate change
Poverty and climate change have a lot in common. But what? How do they relate?
Climate change is affecting everyone, but it's affecting the poor the most.
Poor people have very little to protect themselves from natural disasters, and it's the hardest for them with no money, insurance or basic heatlhcare available to actually protect themselves and get help if these events were to happen. It is also the hardest for them to get food and water. As climate change gets worse, the prices of food and water will also increase, and that is affecting the poor the most, since they have the least money. Climate change also makes it harder to grow crops, which can affect poor people's own food source and income, as many people rely on growing and selling their own harvests to others as their source of income.
People in poverty would also lose everything they have if they got struck by climate disaster, as their homes are not very steady and safe. And there is a lot of people in poverty! From 2019 to 2020, the amount of people living in poverty increased from 8.3 to 9.2 per cent of all the people in the world, according to the United Nations! These people will suffer climate change the most, even though their causing it the least!