Climate Change, Explained

Teen Vogue - Emily Hernandez

Here's what you need to know.

It’s getting hot in here, America. Whether you voted for him or not, as a country we have officially elected Donald J. Trump as the 45th president of the United States. He has denied climate change, pledged to deregulate coal, and he's tapped Myron Ebell, a climate change denier, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency transition team. But the climate can’t afford four more years of denial — here, we unpack some of the most commonly heard phrases about climate change, so you can arm yourself with the facts.

“The climate has always been changing”
First, it's important to understand what "climate" means in the first place. Climate is long-term average weather on a global or regional scale. The Earth’s climate has always been changing due to natural variations such as volcanic eruption or slight shifts in the earth’s orbit. But humans have effectively been holding a giant finger down on the fast-forward button for the past few decades. We’re speeding up a process that takes thousands of years without our influence. Yes, the climate has changed before, but not to this extent, and not in the span of a century. Since 1880, we’ve experienced an increase of about 0.8 °C in the global climate. This has resulted in melting sea ice, rising sea levels, and more extreme weather events. It will only get worse the hotter it gets. Global warming and climate change are often used interchangeably as synonymous terms. However, there are specific differences in their definitions. Global warming refers to an increase in average surface temperature. Climate change refers to all the climatic changes that occur due to greenhouse gas emissions. This not only includes increasing temperature, but also extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and melting glaciers, for example.

The "Greenhouse Effect"

Since the late 19th century, we’ve known that greenhouse gases warm the Earth by trapping heat in the atmosphere. Imagine the atmosphere as a greenhouse encircling the planet. The same way greenhouses are used to grow plants in the winter or in cold regions, the greenhouse effect allows us to live our lives on Earth in comfort. The sun emits solar radiation, which travels into Earth’s atmosphere without any fuss, heating us up. The Earth, in turn, emits radiation back into space, but some of it is blocked from getting that far by the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases, namely carbon dioxide and methane, trap that heat that’s trying to escape back into space. Without these gases, Earth would be freezing and uninhabitable for us. Too much of anything is a bad thing and an overabundance of greenhouse gases leads to an atmosphere that traps too much heat. The major player consistently talked about is carbon dioxide, CO2. When we burn fossil fuels, we’re emitting carbon dioxide up into the atmosphere where it will stay and trap heat for decades. Oil, natural gas, and coal are the three fossil fuels that we just can’t seem to get enough of. We use oil to fuel our transportation needs and coal and natural gas to supply our electricity. The more fossil fuels we use, the more carbon dioxide goes into the atmosphere, making the greenhouse effect stronger, warming up the planet more and more.

“But there isn’t a consensus”
Our president-elect Donald Trump has famously called climate change a “hoax” invented by China. (Liu Zhenmin, China’s vice foreign minister, has denied this.) Both former Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush supported efforts on climate change mitigation and negotiation. Here’s the truth: there is no scientific debate about climate change. A study done this year found that 97% of scientists, experts in their fields, agree that climate change is being sped up by human actions. In politics and big business, the reality of climate change means new regulations, policies that restrict actions that need to be followed, and adaptation. The fossil fuel industry has a vested interest in making sure none of that comes to pass.

What if we stopped using fossil fuels right now?
If we were to quit using fossil fuels, climate change would keep going, and the temperature would keep rising. It all has to do with the thermal inertia of the oceans. Imagine you’re trying to boil a pot of water on a stove. You put the pot on the burner, turn on the stove, and wait. The water takes a bit of time to heat up and eventually start boiling, but once it's hot t stays hot for a while. In that same way, our oceans take time to heat up, delaying the full heating of the atmosphere. At this point, we are committed to a level of climate change that is irreversible. Despite the disheartening effect of that last sentence, the more carbon dioxide we continue to emit, the worse those irreversible effects get.

Okay, it’s a big deal, but what can I do?

Though it may seem hopeless, we still have options. In your everyday life, try to minimize your own carbon footprint. The Nature Conservancy offers a free online calculator to show you how much carbon dioxide your everyday activities emit. Quick changes? Ride your bike or walk when you can. Carpool if a car is the only option or use public transportation. Consider limiting consumption of red meat, or at least commit to meatless Mondays: about half of the greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture come from livestock and the worst offender is beef production.Most importantly, keep educating yourself on the subject, and get loud about it. NASA has a great website that compiles the evidence, causes, and effects with scientific evidence. If you want the government to know you’re serious about the climate, go and make your voice heard. If taking on the government seems like a lot to handle, start with your local or state representatives. Write to or call your congressperson letting them know your opinion on the issue.

Links

• Kids Just Won the Right to Sue the Government
• Katy Perry Speaks Out About Climate Change and Says What We All Need to Hear
• 171 Countries Just Signed the Largest Deal Ever to Save Our Planet
• The Scary Reason That Our Sea Levels Are Rising Faster Than Ever Before