The 10 causes of climate change

According to the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge of Spain (MITECO), climate change is a concept that refers to the global variation of the climate on Earth. This series of environmental transitions and oscillations are both natural and induced, but there is scientific consensus universal in which it is affirmed that the actions of the human being have irreversibly disrupted the global dynamics of the ecosystems.

Scientific data is not subject to values ​​or opinions: the oceans absorb heat and show a warming of 0.302 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969, global average temperature has risen 1.1 ° C since pre-industrial times, the rate of extinction of species is 1,000 times faster than the evolutionary average and atmospheric CO2 increases in 4 years, which previously took about 200.

These figures are objective, the result of extensive professional research and provided by non-profit making organizations. There is no doubt that climate change is a reality and, based on this premise, we present its 10 most important causes. Do not miss it.

What causes climate change?

As we have said before, climate change is a term that refers to global climatic variations on Earth, a concept that includes general temperature, rainfall, cloud cover, natural disasters, relative humidity and many other abiotic (non-living) parameters at variable time scales.

If we want to emphasize the current problem, the correct term is "global warming". This parameter is the most important when it comes to understanding the climate change that the Earth is undergoing in these moments, since their causes are eminently (and irrefutably) the product of the activities of being human. Next, we show you the 10 causes of climate change (global warming) due to anthropic actions.

1. Agriculture and livestock: an unsustainable production system

The current food system is incompatible with the environment and the marked population growth that the Earth shows. We are faced with clear evidence, since many studies (such as Prospects for sustainability of pig production in relation to climate change and novel feed resources and many others) agree that current meat consumption has had a serious impact on the planet.

Meat products derived from livestock animals and the meat itself are a major source of annual emissions greenhouse gases, that is, those responsible for absorbing the thermal radiation emitted by the surface planetary. The study The global impacts of food production, published in 2018 in the journal Nature, showed that 25% of global CO2, at least, comes from the food industry.

Also, we cannot forget that a cow weighing 500 kilos requires about 70 kilos of grass to produce 15 liters of milk and much more to give way to meat: a kilo of veal has consumed 15,400 liters of water to reach your plate. Soy requires about 1,900 liters of water per kilo, that is, about 8 times less than the aforementioned mammal. We're not going to tell you to go vegetarian, but the data speaks for itself: today's meat industry is unsustainable.

2. Transportation pollutes

CO2 is going to appear many times on this list, because it is the main greenhouse gas that is increasing drastically on the Earth's surface since the industrial revolution.

In simple terms, this gas "retains" the thermal radiation emitted by the Earth's surface, radiating it in all directions. As part of this energy is returned to the earth's surface and lower atmosphere, there is an increase in the average surface temperature with respect to what would be in the absence of these gases (we recall that energy = heat). It is estimated that, since 1750, the concentration of CO2 and methane have increased by 36% and 148% in the atmosphere, respectively.

If we take into account that a car has an average life of 250,000 useful kilometers, we can easily calculate that this will emit, before being removed, 25 tons of CO2 and other polluting gases. Therefore, it is easy to say that individual transport is a clear cause of climate change.

3. Buildings are deteriorating and require maintenance

According to the Oxfam Intermon portal, 36% of the gases emitted in Europe come from buildings that require energy renovation. It is necessary to improve the physical infrastructures in terms of insulation, sealing and ventilation. refers, as this greatly delays the need to invest energy in the long-term recomposition term. It is an investment for the future, spend today to preserve tomorrow.

4. Destruction of terrestrial ecosystems

A tree absorbs approximately between 10 kilograms and 30 kilograms of CO2 per year and produces, in this time interval, up to 130 kilograms of oxygen. Vegetables are CO2 “sponges”, since they need it to synthesize carbohydrates (tissues) and release oxygen in the process.

Humans cut down trees indiscriminately to increase the usable area of ​​cultivation and livestock, but with it we shot ourselves in the foot: we change the absorbance of CO2 by the emission of methane. According to the study Mapping tree density at a global scale, published in the journal Nature, 15.3 billion trees are cut down each year. It is estimated that almost 50% of the earth's vegetation surface has been depleted since the beginning of agriculture.

5. Destruction of marine ecosystems

Seaweed forests (also known as kelp) and single-celled algae are also essential for the capture and metabolism of CO2 on the planet. The premise is the same as in the previous point: if with massive fishing and the dumping of waste we kill the fauna and marine flora, we are directly hurting human society and diminishing our viability as species, by further increasing the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases.

6. Unconscionable waste generation

This point is directly linked to the previous one. Every plastic container takes between 100 and 1,000 years to decompose, and the reality of "recycling" is not a salvation to this disastrous fact. According to the United Nations (UN), only 14% of plastics are recycled, while the rest go where you can already imagine: the sea and massive landfills. There are an estimated 5-50 trillion plastic fragments in the sea, 70% of all of them in the seabed.

7. An excessive waste of energy

Human beings consume, on average, much more energy than we need, and this comes from industrial processes that emit up to 80% of the gases in the entire European Union. Light and electricity are direct pollution, so they should never be abused.

8. Use of fertilizers

As indicated by the European Union, fertilizers that contain nitrogen in their composition (N) emit nitrous oxide to the environment, the fourth of the greenhouse gases. For this reason, biologists, botanists and biotechnologists have immersed themselves in the study and development of transgenic crops: if species are created Plants resistant to pests by modifying their genome, the footprint of the agricultural industry can be considerably reduced.

9. A growing population rate

According to the UN, in 2019 we were, approximately, 7,700 million people. The reality is that we are too many Homo sapiens for the carrying capacity of the planet, much more if we take into account the average rate of consumption and the ecological footprint that we exercise with our lifestyle in medium-high countries entry. If we want to continue to have the freedom to leave offspring, it is clear that it is necessary to change the means of production and consumption habits.

10. Lack of social awareness

You, who read this article, may have been clear from the moment you entered that global warming is a reality and must be fought. Unfortunately, like-minded people find ourselves in a kind of “echo chamber”, where we take for granted ideas and convictions that we see as irrefutable. You will be surprised to know that, at this point, almost 20% of the American population believes that climate change is an invention.

These data are not only alarming at the social level, but also from an ecosystem point of view. If you do not believe in science, there is no change in mentality, because "there is nothing to worry about." As long as there are people who still do not believe in the objectivity of mathematics, ignorance will continue to be a danger to preserve our Earth.

Resume

The issue of climate change is no longer a threat to the future, it is no longer something theoretical or that our great-grandchildren will suffer: is passing before our eyes. It is no longer even a matter of empathy with ecosystems and other animals, but rather a clear threat to our species.

Given these data, each one does what he can or wants. Any gesture, from the most cursory awareness to veganism, will make the moment of the end of civilization increasingly delayed or, in a more positive scenario, avoided altogether. At this point, the evidence speaks to social urgency on its own.