Climate change isn’t just about temperature

The world’s very first climate conference was held in Geneva exactly 40 years ago. A small group of scientists came together to raise an alarm about unsettling climate trends.

Today, more than 11,000 scientists have come together to explicitly support a publication calling for necessary climate action. They come from various fields, indicating the damage climate change is making to each part of the world.

Greenhouse gas emissions are escalating with progressively damaging effects. That is because the focus has been on tracking global surface temperatures. However, there’s more to climate change than just global temperature.

Disturbing signs

Over the past few years, deeply alarming signs have been linked to human activities like population growth, fertility rates, global tree cover loss, carbon dioxide emissions, and fossil fuel consumption.

The parallel impact on climate change is equally disturbing. Sea ice is melting faster than expected, while ocean heat, sea level, and severe weather events are rising.

If these situations are not closely monitored, any of them could hit a point of no return. Delay in responding to any of the climate emergencies can create a devastating feedback loop that could make more regions of the earth uninhabitable.

It’s still not too late to act

Here are some steps that we can take to lessen the severest effects of climate change:

1. Reduce car & air travel

2. Lower meat consumption

3. Use renewable & clean sources of energy

4. Safeguard and rebuild the Earth’s ecosystems

5. Lessen emissions of short-lived pollutants like methane & soot

Small changes will encourage larger-scale shifts in policy and economic frameworks.