Responding to Climate Change

Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions, or in the distribution of weather around the average conditions. Climate change is caused by factors that include oceanic processes, variations in solar radiation received by Earth, plate tectonics and volcanic eruptions, and human-induced alterations of the natural world; these latter effects are currently causing global warming, and "climate change" is often used to describe human-specific impacts. Factors that can shape climate are called climate forcing or "forcing mechanisms". These include processes such as variations insolar radiation, variations in the Earth's orbit, mountain-building and continental drift and changes in greenhouse gas concentrations. There are a variety of climate change feedbacks that can either amplify or diminish the initial forcing. Some parts of the climate system, such as the oceans and ice caps, respond slowly in reaction to climate forcing, while others respond more quickly.

The Earth's climate is getting warmer, and the signs are everywhere. Rain patterns are changing, sea level is rising, and snow and ice are melting sooner in the spring. As global temperatures continue to rise, we'll see more changes in our climate and our environment. These changes will affect people, animals, and ecosystems in many ways. Less rain can mean less water for some places, while too much rain can cause terrible flooding. More hot days can dry up crops and make people and animals sick. In some places, people will struggle to cope with a changing environment. In other places, people may be able to successfully prepare for these changes. The negative impacts of global climate change will be less severe overall if people reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we're putting into the atmosphere and worse if we continue producing these gases at current or faster rates.

The Earth is getting warmer because people are adding heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere, mainly by burning fossil fuels. These gases are called greenhouse gases. Warmer temperatures are causing other changes around the world, such as melting glaciers and stronger storms. These changes are happening because the Earth's air, water, and land are all linked to the climate. The Earth's climate has changed before, but this time is different. People are causing these changes, which are bigger and happening faster than any climate changes that modern society has ever seen before.

We now know that man-made climate change is real and that it poses a great threat to the planet and its inhabitants. Current data suggest that we need to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in developed countries by at least 80% by 2050 in order to have a chance of staying below an average temperature rise of over 2ºC.

Factory farming is a major contributor to the climate change challenge, releasing vast volumes of greenhouse gases. Factory farming produces greenhouse gases throughout the 'supply chain'; for example, forest clearance to grow the crops and rear the animals reduces vital carbon 'sinks' and releases gases previously stored in the soil and vegetation. Factory farming also requires large amounts of energy in order to function. This isn't just to rear the animals, but also to grow the vast amounts of feed they need. The rest is needed for factors such as heating, lighting and ventilation. It's not just carbon dioxide that's the problem - gases including methane and nitrous oxide are also produced in significant quantities, released through various sources including animal waste and fertiliser use. Climate change is already harming food production and these impacts are projected to increase over time, with potentially devastating effects. Higher temperatures, for example, could place further stress on water-scarce regions and make it harder to rear animals and grow food crops. According to the Convention on Biological Diversity climate change may affect plant growth and production by promoting the spread of pests and diseases, increasing exposure to heat stress and encouraging soil erosion due to stronger winds. Added heat stress, shifting monsoons, and drier soils may reduce yields by as much as a third in the tropics and subtropics, where crops are already near their maximum heat tolerance.

 So as early as now, we the people of this world should wake up and face the reality between the Earth’s destruction before it’s too late. We should work hand in hand to save mother earth. We must know the basic things which is planting trees as soon as possible. So that in the upcoming generations there would still be trees to climb, mountains to hike, oceans to swim, and a green environment to live.