The major cause of climate change is the inappropriate release of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O). Then there are these gases that trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere producing global warming. Burning fossil fuels – for energy, transportation and industry – make these greenhouse effects many times more powerful and rapidly speed up global warming.
Climate change could not be getting worse if it wasn’t for deforestation. Carbon sinks are also forests: they soak up CO₂ from the atmosphere. But the forest cover is being reduced dramatically by large–scale logging, agriculture expansion and urban development. But it’s not just CO₂ that’s being absorbed: in addition it is releasing stored carbon, further exacerbating the greenhouse effect with rising global temperatures.
In addition, climate change is attributed to major industrial processes and agriculture. In cement and steel industries, a lot of greenhouse gases come out of production factories. The agricultural practice of using chemical fertilizers and livestock farming releases two powerful greenhouse gases that continue to destabilize the climate system: methane and nitrous oxide.
Secondly, there is a massive increase in global energy demand, with a large amount from non renewable sources. Even with cleaner alternatives, coal, oil and natural gas are still by far the dominant sources of energy. As a consequence of being dependent on fossil fuels, the massive CO₂ emissions occur. In addition, there is no strict policy and emphasis to control the continued use of contaminants energy sources.
Urbanization and land use changes have wreaked havoc with Earth's natural balance. Urban expansion increases energy consumption, leads to heat island effects and encourages out of control growth of unsustainable infrastructure. Furthermore, the destruction of natural wetland and ecosystem reduces inbuilt resilience to climate shifts. These transformations have contributed to driving down biodiversity and feeding more broadly into destabilizing global environmental systems that also drive climate change impacts.
Conclusion
The activities driving this climate change are interconnected human activities and include oil and gas combustion, deforestation, industrial processes and unsustainable land use. Factoring into each of these factors is a dangerous cycle of environmental degradation. If we are to avoid the worst of these effects and guarantee a sustainable future for future generations, then immediate, collective action is non negotiable.
