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Hot Item.
It is an item that has long been high in the news lists around the world. It is on every political agenda and every citizen in every country in the world knows what we are talking about. At least, we think so. But do we really know that?
To be able to give an answer to that, we will have to get a number of facts in a row. Because what are we actually talking about? The most commonly known fact is that the temperature has been heated by 1 degree all over the earth. But is this all? And is this so bad now? And is there really a real Global Warming?
Let me start at the beginning.
To make it very clear, climate change is not unique! It is of all times and not the first time that climate change is happening. We have been through various climate changes since the dawn of time, the origin of the earth, and we are still alive. The world still exists. Even if this climate change that is going on would continue, the world will not perish. But what actually happens? And why are we so sure that climate change is going on, and what are we talking about?
- The fact is that the earth is slowly warming up.
This is reflected in the tropical storms that occur more and more violently than before. The volcanic eruptions that have increased in frequency in recent years, the floods that occur more frequently. And in the warmer and drier summers, softer and wetter winters that occur worldwide. We are currently talking about 1 degree warmer compared to the last century seen worldwide. And the latter, that it is worldwide, makes this climate change unique in comparison to all climate changes that have occurred since the beginning of time. There has never been a climate change that touched the whole world at the same time! Let this penetrate before you continue reading.
Origin of climate change.
If we dive very far back in time to, for example, the end of the last ice age that our earth has known, around 20,000 to 10,000 years ago, then we see that the sun's rays changed to those that made it warmer. But that was not the only reason for the end of that ice age. Because the water from the seas and oceans became warmer, CO2 was released, which led to a further increase in temperature. In addition, the greenhouse gases increased, raising the temperature even further, and all of these increases combined meant that the last ice age ended and the temperature increased even further. Another prehistoric climate change, in which it became warmer, was some 56 million years ago during the paleocene-eocene thermal maximum. During this period, both the South Pole and the North Pole were free of ice! Over a period of several thousand years, an enormous amount of greenhouse gas had entered the atmosphere, warming the climate and acidifying the oceans. This science has been proven by the deep-sea sediments that can be distinguished into two clear layers. The white, lime-rich sediments are roughly interrupted by a dark layer, from which most of the lime has disappeared. Those dark sediments were deposited during the extremely hot period. The disappearance of lime deposits in this way is an indication of strong ocean acidification, since lime dissolves more easily in more acidic water. In turn, more acidic oceans arise from increased CO2 concentrations in the ocean. And the latter, the increased CO2 concentrations that cause acidification of the oceans makes the alarm bells ring in the scientists of our time! Because even now more and more CO2 ends up in the atmospheres, which is also partly absorbed by the oceans.
What does CO2 do?
CO2, or carbon dioxide, is one of the greenhouse gases that end up in our atmosphere. These greenhouse gases make life on earth possible. Without all these greenhouse gases, it would on average be around 33 degrees Celsius colder on Earth! That would make you think that an increased concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere would not be a problem. However, the opposite is true. If this concentration increases sharply, which has risen more since the last century than in the ten thousand years in which the earth thawed from its last ice age, then much life on earth will run into problems.
Various studies have shown that every major climate change has made life on earth and our earth itself look very different. So knowing that climate change is of all times should increase concerns about it instead of nuancing that it will all be better than expected.
The greatly increased CO2 concentration in the atmosphere remains hanging around the earth like a blanket, which ensures that the sun's rays are no longer reflected back into the universe, but just lingers under this blanket. This causes the temperature on earth to rise.
The concentration of CO2 is increasing rapidly. This causes the blanket to become thicker around the earth, so that more heat will linger, and on average the temperature will rise even more. And there is a problem for life on our planet. There may be feared for the existence of many animal species, and we humans are vulnerable too!
Natural climate change or human influence?
Earlier climate changes have always occurred naturally. So why all those alarm bells now, and what could we do about it now? Why then should humanity be the determining factor for this climate change?
There is a difference in the type of CO2 hanging in the atmosphere. And by measuring the type of CO2, it has been established that the extra CO2 from the last century mainly comes from burning fossil fuels. fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas originate from plants in which carbon (C) is stored. This is released as CO2 during incineration.
Another important cause of the CO2 increase is the deforestation that takes place over large parts of our world.
And then, according to the gentlemen experts, the ever-growing livestock population has been seen worldwide. These livestock also cause increased greenhouse gas formation. How then? Keeping cattle releases gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect and therefore to climate change. Ruminants (such as cows and sheep) produce methane when they digest food. Methane and nitrous oxide (N2O) are released from stored manure. The use of manure and fertilizer on land also leads to the emission of laughing gas. Both laughing gas and methane are much stronger greenhouse gases than CO2. Due to an increasing demand for meat, this herd is growing worldwide, which means that greenhouse gas emissions are also increasing sharply.
Growing and transporting animal feed causes a lot of emissions. Soy from South America often contains animal feed. Large areas of nature are converted into arable land for soy cultivation. During the conversion of jungle or grassland into arable land, many greenhouse gases are released from the soil. Transport also determines part of the climate impact, because the transport of livestock and feed also releases greenhouse gases.
If this continues, many animals will come to extinction. Take the Polar Bears as an example. They can only live if the ice sheets that we still have will not be lost. And as it stands now, they are melting every day and it is only a matter of time before these animals no longer have habitats. Once the ice caps have melted, it is over for the Polar Bears. No life is possible without a habitat. But these are not the only animals. If we do nothing about climate change, a third of all plant and animal species would die out, not only because of the decline in the habitat that applies to various animals, but also because of the warming that threatens the disappearance of food sources for the animals. And of course no life without food.
And this is the story that everyone hears from politics and a group of scientists. If you hear and read all of this, then you truly believe that all alarm bells must sound very loud. And that we all have to do our bit to save our world from global warming. We need to ensure that there is less CO2 in the atmosphere, and to achieve that, the most diverse things are needed.
As you have already understood, a reduction in livestock populations worldwide is a necessity, but our ways of generating energy must also change drastically. We must get rid of fossil fuels. Trees must be planted again instead of being felled. Our industries need to be adjusted, etc. Everyone will have heard one or more measures ... and will act to a greater or lesser extent in his / her personal situation.
But this is ONE side of the climate story.
There is also another group of scientists who claim that the additional CO2 emissions caused by humans are not at all responsible for global warming. But that there are factors that we have absolutely no influence on. Namely the changed position of the Earth's axis with the sun, the increasing and decreasing of solar winds so that more or less solar radiation reaches the earth's surface. And a few more cosmic influences. This really TO much to describe. But according to this group of people, those are the main culprits for the current warming, and that's not all ... but it would also point to another disturbing fact. That we are on the edge of a new ice age! Looking at all the ice ages that our earth has gone through, it has been established that every ice age was preceded by a short period of warming. This period would, on average, cover around 10000 years and the last ice age is now almost 12000 years ago. The fact is that our earth, which we call home, is no longer like a tiny dot in a very large universe. There are many cosmic elements that little to nothing is known about for the largest group of people. Why could that not have an effect on the warming of our small globe?
And if this is indeed the case, then all the millions of euros that are now invested in reducing CO2 in the air are totally useless investments! Investments made over the back of the citizen. And thus a conscious attempt to impoverish the citizens. Which turns the entire story of climate change / global warming into a political story. One thing that cannot be changed is to take hold of the behavior of the entire population.
I am just a photographer / blogger, and I am a human.
I don't even know for sure what to think of everything. I wanted to participate in this steemit contest because I find it an interesting topic. I am worried about the many animal species that are threatened with extinction. I live vegetarian on principle because I don't want an animal to be killed so that I could eat it. And certainly not an animal that has been specially bred with the aim of being on our plate. I try to take the environment into account as much as I can. But I am certainly not a scientist, I am not a climatologist, I am neither a political scientist nor a politician.
But looking at your own way of life and using clean energy as much as possible (generated by sun, wind or water) is never wrong in my view. Because the fossil fuels that we now mainly use are now withdrawn from the earth, while I am convinced that this could never have been the intention. Not to the extent that this is happening now. The fossil fuels are not inexhaustible either, they will have to be looked at in a different way anyway, and there are plenty of other ways of using the elements that will always be there. Sun, wind and water.
A solution that solves all problems, if there is one, I really could not give you. I wish I could do it. But unfortunately, I still have to answer that answer.
However, writing this post has given me more food for thought. And I will certainly delve deeper into this matter. For the time being, I really keep looking at myself as much as possible to take the environment and possible co2 emissions into account as much as possible. And can I say that we do our best to limit that as much as possible. We live as consciously as possible, look very carefully with our energy from which we take it and we eat vegetarian. We wish we could do more, but that is not yet possible because certain laws restrict us to a totally self-sufficient life. Does it help to pay attention to everything?