Climate Change Vs Global Warming

Climate Change vs Global Warming

Climate change and global warming are in fact different but is related to one another.

To start of global warming began way before climate change. Global warming began during the industrial revolution. Global warming is the increasing of the Earth temperature due to greenhouse gases and the burning of fossil fuel. Climate change on the other hand is the long term effect in the change of the Earth's climate.

 

What the society thinks?

The difference between global warming and climate change is misunderstood by some people. According to a study from Yale with over  1600 respondents, many envision global warming is the one responsible for hurricane, floods, and changing wind pattern. Scientist prefer the term climate change more over global warming as it is considered more accurate and long-term. On the bright side, more than 60% of the respondent know the climate is changing and are aware that the changing of climates is due to human activities.

What is happening right now ?

For the last century, the Earth become warmer by 1.2°F - 1.4°F. Over the last decade, the Earth's temperature has reached its warmest by shattering numerous record. Modern human civilisation has increased the unnatural production of greenhouse gasses over the pass years by burning fossil fuels. The CO2 trapped in the air causes the heat from the Sun harder to escape causing the rising of the surrounding temperature. 

    The main victim of climate change is the ocean. The ocean covers the surface of the Earth by 71% and contains 97% of the Earth's water. The ocean is responsible the regulation of the Earth's temperature and provide 50% of the world's oxygen. Global warming has risen the ocean by 0.3°F from 1969.Climate has also cause ocean acidification which means the CO2 in the atmosphere has been dissolved in salt water causing it to be more acidic. The surface of the ocean has increased in acidity by 30% which causes corals and clams to die. This does not only effect the ocean's food web, but over a billion people rely on the ocean for their source of protein.

    Glaciers are also beginning to melt. Between the year 2002-2005, as much as 36 cubic miles of ice has melted. The melted ice flows back to the ocean leading to the increase of the ocean level causing floods. Scientist has predicted that due to climate change, sea level will rise by an inch every decade. It is expected by 2100, the ocean level will reach our feet and. The summer sea ice in the arctic has decreased by 40%.Climate change are also the reasons behind the frequent causes of droughts, hurricane, floods and other natural disasters. 

How can you help as individuals ?

Avoid eating meat

Ruminants such as cows and sheep are becoming higher in demand in supermarket for their meat. This may come to a surprise but these animals can contribute to climate change. This is due to their digestive system. Ruminants eats grass and digest their food producing a gas called methane. Methane gas is one of the greenhouse gas. The vast demands of meat has lead to the encouragement of breeding such animals. The methane gas collected in the air causes the atmosphere of the Earth to face known as greenhouse effect.

Instead, eat more local or home grown vegetables. Vegetables are not only more healthy, but it will also reduce cost. Eating vegetables may become boring after sometime especially for those who do not eat vegetables. it is recommended to change your menu to boost your appetite by adding simple ingredients. There are many blogs that offers healthy yet tasty green foods recipe to be tried out. Greatist is one of the website that shares interesting menu while introducing some greens in it.

Save electricity consumption

Wastage of electricity does contribute to climate change. It may not seem obvious, but the electricity produced by power plants that uses coal, fossil fuels or cured oil releases toxic gas into the air. One of the gas is CO2. CO2 is known for its contribution to the greenhouse effect. Unfortunately, CO2 is only one of many products released to the air. Other gasses can impact our health directly such as causing breathing difficulties, cardiovascular damage, and impact the nerve system.

   A few steps can be taken to save electricity:-

• Switch to LED bulbs
• Unplug all unused appliances
• Turn of unnecessary lights
• Purchase energy efficient appliances
• Reduce hot showers

Avoid wasting electricity can help save Mother Nature. Simple actions lead to big differences. We are usually unaware of how much we waste electricity everyday. Try to reduce as much electricity as possible. Actions such as not using your tv and your devices is not necessary.

Use public transport

Using public transport is a great way of reducing emissions in the air. Most public transport today is electrically powered so it won't produce any gas to be released to the air that we breath. Busses and commuters are becoming more efficient than ever before for people to commute in a city. On top of that, public transport are a lot more cheaper than driving our own cars. For people who work in the cities, try to look up in the Internet for season passes to save even more. There are even season tickets which cause about 30$ per month for unlimited public transport services.

Participate in events

Participating in campaigns can help spread awareness of the severity of climate change. We can also gain new knowledge on the latest occurrences regarding climate change. Meeting new people allows the exchange of informations to happen and also the sharing of their own opinions regarding the issue. Events are very good at creating publicity. Creating publicity with regards to important things such as climate change is important to grab media's attention which puts pressure to companies and also government. Please considering to sign up for a partition to make a change.There are tons of local campaigns to choose from. Just by googling and searching for the right time, we are able to make a big difference to make the world a better place.

Why aren't there many people taking action?

One of the biggest reason why many are not acting to save the environment is because climate change is a natural disaster that is considered long-term. Usually people react to more direct and obvious disaster such as floods and droughts. Such natural occurrences will have a large media attention to make people react more actively. When it comes to climate change, people usually talks about the prediction of the future which cause many to procrastinate. Climate change is the biggest threat that our species has ever faced. We may not feel it now, but the effects are devastating. What makes climate change so dangerous is not the direct impact, but it is actually how slowly it effects people that many hardly notices.

    There is still time for people to act. The decision to make a change is on our very own hands. There might be some questioning whether their contribution is effective enough to make a change to such a big world. The world is like a very large basket, with every small contribution fills the basket with raisins. Together as one, we can fill the basket until it is full.