ENVIRONMENT: TAKE A STAND

ALEXANDER M.

As a young person, I fear for my future and the lack of action from governing bodies throughout the world about one of the most important topic, Global Warming.

So, what is Global Warming and why only now has it come to light? Global Warming is the increase of average world temperatures as a result of what is known as the greenhouse effect. Certain gases in the atmosphere act like glass in a greenhouse, allowing sunlight through to heat the earth’s surface but trapping the heat as it radiates back into space. As the greenhouse gases build up in the atmosphere the Earth gets hotter. This process is leading to a rapid change in the climate, also known as

climate change. Global warming doesn't just mean warming — which is why "climate change" has become the trendier term among

researchers and policy makers. While the globe is becoming hotter on average, this temperature increase can have paradoxical effects, such as more serious snowstorms. There are several big ways climate change can and will affect the globe: By melting ice, by drying out already-arid areas, by causing weather extremes and by disrupting the delicate balance of the oceans.

Analysis confirms that climate change is making wildfires worse. In light of the ongoing wildfire crisis in Australia, Richard Betts at the UK Met Office in Exeter and his colleagues reviewed 57 peerreviewed studies about the link between climate change and wildfire risk.The review found that fire weather seasons have lengthened globally between 1979 and 2013. Fire weather generally involves hot temperatures, low humidity, low rainfall in the preceding days and weeks, and windy conditions.Climate models also suggest that more extreme conditions and longer fire seasons come, as a result of climate change, rather than fluctuations due to natural variation, the review reported. The recent extreme weather in Australia – 2019 was both its hottest and driest year on record – will become the “new normal”, if the world continues a trajectory of warming close to 3°C, said Betts at a press briefing on Monday.

“It may sound frightening but the scientific evidence is that if we have not taken dramatic action within the next decade, we could face irreversible damage to the natural world and the collapse of our societies.”

"In the last year we've had a global assessment of ice losses from Antarctica and Greenland and they tell us that things are worse than we'd expected," said Prof Andrew Shepherd from the University of Leeds.

"The Greenland ice sheet is melting, it's lost four trillion tonnes of ice and it's losing five times as much ice today as it was 25 years ago."

What can we do about it? ‘Take a Stand’ is inspired by the actions of Greta Thunberg and many other young people who have made their voices heard.