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You probably already know what climate change is! If you do, you might not be fully comfortable with it, at least not well enough to help organize large-scale climate action, so it’s a good idea to stick around and see if you learn anything. By no means does anyone know anything perfectly.
“Climate change” is an umbrella term used to describe long-term changes in Earth’s global patterns and “climate” as a result of human activities.
FAQ:
The weather changes, so isn’t climate change normal? Climate and weather are different. Think of climate as a string, and weather is all the little bumps and squiggles the string makes. Now imagine that string curling in a circle, retaining the bumps and squiggles. There are bumps and squiggles that change where the line is momentarily, but the overall shape of the string is still a circle. That’s what climate change vs. weather change is: the weather fluctuates on a day-to-day basis, but that’s unrelated to the overall trend in climate, which is that our world is getting warmer.
If it’s getting warmer, why are winters colder?/Why are some areas not heating up? The way heat works in our atmosphere is more complicated than, say, an oven. While an oven may evenly heat everywhere, the interplay of different winds and temperatures in Earth’s atmosphere makes it so that temperatures get more extreme rather than just hotter. This is why “global warming” was retired in favor of “climate change”: it’s more accurate to state that our climate is changing and becoming wildly different from ancestral patterns than to say the planet is simply becoming warmer.
When are we “out of time”? I don’t necessarily think we are ever “out of time”, because we can always turn things around with enough effort. Scientists, however, estimate we have a little over 4 years to limit global warming to below 1.5°C. DON’T PANIC! Do panic, but not really. It’s important, but we have the capacity to make change. 4 years is a long time.
We’re going to get into a bit of chemistry. Please bear with.
Climate change is caused by the accumulation of “greenhouse gases”, in our atmosphere. Specifically, the water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) released by human activities like driving or industry are trapped in our atmosphere.
Think of heat as being molecular movement, or vibration. As heat from the sun travels towards Earth, then bounces off, the greenhouse gas molecules are actually able to receive the vibration and re-send it back towards Earth, effectively keeping the heat in Earth’s atmosphere. Think of hitting plate armor versus chainmail. When you hit plate armor, the force doesn’t really go anywhere, but the flexibility of chainmail allows it to ripple and distribute the force in movement.
Greenhouse gases are primarily released through the combustion, or burning, of carbon-based materials like fuels (gasoline, for instance) and plastics. They are primarily offset by the presence of plants, most often attributed to trees. Plants consume carbon dioxide and water vapor and use their molecules to form their own structure, thereby “removing” carbon dioxide and water from the atmosphere and storing it in plants.
From here, the idea of environmentalism and climate change splits into a lot of different sectors. There is work to improve government policies so that we burn less gas or plastic. Conservation work to keep the animals, plants, and ecosystems moving that remove greenhouse gases. Boycotting wasteful industries that contribute to the release of gases via factories and industry. Stopping the ravaging of natural resources that hurts habitats. Or changing the ideologies that keep all of these things within constant practice.