In our series EcoHomeLife Explains we look at terms and concepts around sustainability and explain them succinctly and simply. In this edition, we discover the origins of global warming.
Living a more sustainable life means understanding the impact you have on the environment. This can sometimes be quite a challenge, given that many terms and concepts surrounding this topic are scientific.
But that doesn’t mean you need a science degree to understand them. We are here to help you make sense of it all.
When we read or research about sustainability, we sooner or later come across the term global warming.
Let’s find out what are the origins of global warming and why we need to prevent it.
What Does Global Warming Mean?
Let’s start with the meaning of the term global warming. According to the Cambridge Dictionary online it is:
a gradual increase in the earth’s temperature, caused by gases, esp. carbon dioxide, surrounding the earth
Cambridge Dictionary online
So simply put, it means that the surface temperature of the earth increases and it gets warmer. Recent heatwaves are a sure sign that our planet is hotting up and why it’s important for us to stop global warming.
This definition also holds a clue to why it happens. So let’s get to it…
The Origins Of Global Warming
Our planet is surrounded by the earth’s atmosphere, which protects us from ultraviolet radiation from the sun and incoming space debris such as asteroids.
It also provides insulation to ensure that the warmth from the sun doesn’t get lost. This is important, otherwise we would have very cold nights indeed. And even the days wouldn’t be that warm.
The earth’s atmosphere is the reason why we have a climate that makes life possible. Our atmosphere consists of different gases, including nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and many others.
When the light and radiation from the sun hits the earth’s surface, it gets reflected back. Certain gases, such as carbon dioxide, absorb and store the light and radiation that is reflected. (Anderson et al., 2016)
The result is that the earth’s atmosphere warms up. But we need this warmth to keep our nights from becoming too cold for life to survive. So what’s the problem?
An issue arises when there are so many heat-absorbing gases in our atmosphere that the planet gets hotter than is good for life on earth.
And that’s what global warming is. Through human activities, the concentration of greenhouse gases, the gases that absorb heat from the sun, has increased by so much that the planet gets hotter than is good for us, plants and animals.
The industrial revolution kick-started the production of enormous amounts of greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide, which has increased every year ever since.
As a result, we now pump carbon dioxide into our atmosphere faster than nature manages to remove it.
Scientists have calculated that we cannot allow the earth’s temperature to rise by more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, as this would be a catastrophe for our planet.
Global Warming’s Real World Consequeces
We have already seen our climate change in recent decades, with extreme weather events becoming more frequent and dangerous.
Heatwaves, droughts, flooding and wildfires have been responsible for many lives lost already. Biodiveristy is also suffering, because many plants and animals can’t adapt quick enough to new weather patterns and higher temperatures.
We risk losing a huge amount of wildlife in what some scientists call a pending “mass extinction”.
As the increased amount of greenhouse gases is caused by human activity, it is our responsibility to change our ways and stop releasing more.
Burning fossil fuels is one of the biggest contributors to global warming. And scientists warn that unless we stop now, extreme weather events will become the norm.
Stopping Global Warming
The only way we can stop global warming is by stopping to burn fossil fuels. But that’s not as easy as it sounds.
We heat our homes with fossil fuels, we create much of our electricity with fossil fuels, our cars use fossil fuels and our manufacturing industries need fossil fuels.
The good news is that there are ways we can reduce our carbon footprint, because we already have all the tools we need.
By only using renewable energy sources to create electricity, such as wind and solar power, we can reduce the amount of greenhouse gases by a lot.
Then we can switch away from diesel and petrol cars to electric vehicles. Likewise, low-carbon heating systems, such as heat pumps, let us heat our homes without burning fossil fuels.
Many governments around the world, including the UK, have climate change policies that aim at doing this. The problem is that our progress is too slow.
This doesn’t mean that we can’t do it though. Through pressure from civil society, which means us, we can force governments and leaders around the world to make the necessary big changes.
And there are small changes we can all make, such as insulating our homes, buying electric cars, installing heat pumps and solar panels in our homes.
If this is beyond your budget, then you can use your car less, eat less meat and reduce your energy use whenever possible. You can also switch to more sustainable products, such as shampoo bars.
Because the origins of global warming lie in human activities, our activities can also stop and even reverse it before too much damage is caused.
