Curbing climate change
Why heat the planet?
Why heat the planet? We can do something about it? What are the consequences of global warming?
In the atmosphere surrounding our planet, a number of gases (mainly water vapor and carbon dioxide) that produce the greenhouse effect. These gases absorb infrared radiation and allow the planet's average temperature being about 15 ° C. It should be mentioned then that this is a natural phenomenon. The current problem is that the emission of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, etc.), And others created by human action (halocarbons), have increased enormously their presence in the atmosphere, the result of human industrial activity, further accentuated by increasing the greenhouse effect and the way the average temperature of the earth.
Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have argued that the consequences of this phenomenon in this century will possibly:
- The average temperature increase of 1 to 3.6 degrees Celsius.
- The desertification of certain areas of the planet.
- Rain with an even more torrential, causing more severe flooding risks.
- A rise in sea levels of between 15 and 94 cm, mainly due to melting which would seriously affect the most densely populated land.
- The spread of certain tropical diseases such unprecedented in today in temperate zones.
While we should be concerned about the consequences of climate change, we must have courage to change. It is very important to the recycling of our waste and that we all contribute with small actions, from our breakfast wrap with wax paper or use a lunch box instead of foil, through walking and cycling - where possible - school or work and emphasizing the savings and efficiency - buying, for example, appliances are usually more expensive but are more efficient - to reduce our energy consumption.