What are the Effects of Climate Change?
What is Climate Change?
Climate Change is a long-term shift in weather patterns worldwide. Since the mid-1800s, people have released many gasses into the atmosphere, such as greenhouse gases and fossil fuels. These gases cause the temperature to rise. This results in long-term climate changes. These gases get trapped in the atmosphere, affecting the earth's energy balance.
The Impact of Greenhouse Gases
Greenhouse gases cause the greenhouse effect. These gases get trapped in the atmosphere. Scientists back in 1896 proved that greenhouse gasses "are the natural warming of the earth that results when gasses in the atmosphere trap heat from the sun that would otherwise escape into space." The most known greenhouse gasses are Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. These gases can be found naturally in the atmosphere. However, the amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere has increased significantly because of artificial sources.
The Impact of Fossil fuels
When Fossil fuels are burned, they release a large amount of Carbon Dioxide and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The main reason Fossil Fuels harm climate change is that they are nonrenewable. Nonrenewable gasses are estimated to deplete in the future, meaning they will decrease natural gas production. This is significant because natural ways of producing energy will become nonexistent and be replaced by nonrenewable, unnatural production. In addition, Fossil Fuels are hazardous to produce; they also create air pollution, and air pollution generates toxic emissions.
2015 Paris Agreement
The 2015 Paris Agreement was made to limit global warming to 2 and preferably 1.5 degrees celsius. Although there is still much work to be done to combat climate change, low-carbon technologies and new markets have emerged since the Paris Agreement came into force. Many nations, regions, cities, and businesses are setting carbon neutrality goals. Zero-carbon solutions are becoming more competitive in all economic sectors, which account for 25% of emissions. This trend is most evident in the electricity and transportation industries and has given early adopters many brand-new business prospects. Zero-carbon alternatives might be competitive by 2030 in industries responsible for more than 70% of world emissions. In 2017 US President Donald Trump took the US from the Paris agreement. This affected the chances of reaching the goal, Trump's decision involved carbon prices and the carbon emission space.
What will happen if we do Nothing?
If we don't act quickly about climate change, it is proven that global temperatures will rise by 2-4 degrees Celsius (3-7 Fahrenheit). This significant temperature increase could lead to disastrous ice melting in Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets. This will cause rising sea levels, which would flood numerous cities on the coastline. Temperatures rising will lead to drought, and heat waves will become way more common and extreme. This will ruin the life of many animals, leading to extinction. As well as health crises, and illness. Agriculture will plummet, meaning the earth will become too warm for crops to grow, leading to significant global food shortages and famine. Water shortages would also occur, making some places uninhabitable.
What Can we do to Help?
We, as a community, can do many things to help. Abiding by the Paris agreement to turning the tap off when we brush our teeth.
Here are some easy examples that you can do to help our world.
Turn your lights off when you don't need them on
Use a lower power function when you shower
Walk, cycle, or take public transport
Throw away less food
Consider how much you are traveling
Cut consumption waste
What is ZIS doing?
We don’t just teach students what sustainability is, we give them hope and lead by example so they can change the world.- ZIS
ZIS is working as a school to do its part to help climate change. But what are they doing? Let's start with the students. Middle school students have different units to enlarge their understanding of climate change, and 6th-grade students have a whole unit about food systems, informed consumer choice, ethical food production, and innovation. 7th graders have a unit about “cities, using local and international case studies. They evaluate policy and decision-making against three factors of sustainability (environment, economics, and equity) and send letters to city officials with their findings.” Lastly, 8th graders create “60-second films to motivate action toward their ideal future. Submissions are open to a public vote with winners announced at graduation and sometimes going onto wider recognition through the Videos for Change platform.”
High schoolers go on many outdoor trips to learn about sustainability, they can also join many extracurricular activities to enlarge their understanding such as Model United Nations (MUN) and the sustainability committee. A sustainability committee is a group of people who work together to review practices and curriculum guides.
ZIS lower school added a Forest food garden in 2021 to teach students how to be more responsible with nature and the natural environment.
Climate change is a major problem in our world. It is destroying the planet, killing crops, making sea levels rise, and if we keep doing what we are doing, our world will turn uninhabitable. So do your part to save our planet.
