Climate Change: A Global Challenge Shaping Our Future

Climate change!!! It is being referred to as the "crisis of our time." Only graphs that become increasingly red and furious. Almost every year sets a new record, from the most extreme heat waves to the fastest glacier melt. We've known for decades that the production of greenhouse gases causes fast climate change. However, instead of lowering emissions, the world actually emits 50% more CO2 in 2019 than it did in 2000. And emissions are continuing to rise. What is the reason for this? Why is it so difficult to simply stop releasing these gases? what are we doing wrong, and how can we solve it? We began breaking CO2 records in 1950 and haven't stopped since. why? 

According to scientists, there is a 95 percent possibility that human activity is to blame. To power our houses, factories, airlines, and cars, we have been consuming an increasing amount of CO2-emitting fossil fuels such as oil and coal. There are also many more of us. In the last 70 years, the world's population has more than tripled. In addition, we are consuming more animal products, which emit another pollutant known as methane. So, all of those gases are in the atmosphere, and as sunlight enters the earth's atmosphere, some of the heat is trapped, and the planet warms. That is why it is referred to as the "Greenhouse Effect." According to the UN, our planet is currently 1 degree hotter than pre-industrial times. That's OK. In fact, the UN says we should be alright if we warm by 1.5 degrees Celsius before the end of the century. 

According to the UN, even a temperature increases of 2 degrees Celsius would be 'probably' acceptable. But, once again, the issue is speed. Because we are currently on course to reach 1.5 degrees Celsius in only ten years. So, if we don't slow down the warming, it might imply disaster during our lifetime. And we're already getting a whiff of it. Climate change is occurring. Millions of people are going to face worsening food and water shortages. Sea levels are rising at a rate of roughly 3 millimeters each year due to the expansion of seawater as temperatures rise. Melting ice sheets and glaciers also bring trillions of tons of freshwater to our oceans. People all throughout the world are already losing their houses. And if things continue as they are, millions more of us will have to pack up too. Within the next 80 years, entire coastal communities could be underwater. Natural disasters are getting more intense and frequent, with terrible repercussions. The catastrophic effects of droughts in several regions of the world are combining to create a situation that poses a real threat to humanity.

Our overall CO2 emissions can be described as a product of four components and their interrelationships. Two of them explain why global CO2 emissions are continuing to rise, while the other two describe how we can put a stop to it. Population size, economic growth, energy intensity, and CO2 emissions per unit of energy produced are all factors to consider. The population size is number one. Food, shelter, and clothing are all necessities. People demand high-end items like as iPhones and one-dollar cheeseburgers, more people = more CO2 emissions. It's a clear formula. According to the United Nations, the global population will peak at around 11 billion people in 2100, which is 40% more than it is now. Investing in healthcare, and education in developing countries is one approach to slow down this growth. Number two is economic growth, also known as "becoming richer." But it's not just about numbers; the wealthier and more developed we become, the more pollution our way of life generates. Almost everywhere on the planet, wealth is increasing. Economic expansion has resulted in the highest living standards and the largest reduction in extreme poverty in human history, despite the fact that it is difficult to disseminate. CO2 emissions will rise as a result of this expansion. So far, we've learned that as the human population and economy grows, CO2 emissions will rise, which is the exact reverse of what should be happening.

The next two factors explain how we can go about doing it. Number 3: Intensity of Energy The term "energy intensity" refers to how effectively we utilize energy. The less energy we require to do something, the more efficient it is. It doesn't matter if you're powering a city or frying a kebab. One of the most essential strategies to lessen the modern world's CO2 dependency is to improve our technology and come up with more effective ways to organize our communities. This leads us to the fourth and last factor: CO2 emissions per unit of energy consumed, or "Our Global Carbon Footprint." The global carbon footprint of humanity is the amount of CO2 released per unit of energy created. Coal facilities, for example, emit far more CO2 per unit of electricity than solar power. This connection is clear. The more fossil fuels we use, the more CO2 we produce.

While we invent what we will need in the future, we must find solutions to cut CO2 emissions today. Over the next few years, the less fossil fuel we burn, the more time we allow innovation to catch up. We can balance economic growth and individuals born today by building more low-carbon energy infrastructure today.