World Environment Day

On the event of world environment day Swadhina would like to create awareness on the current climate change occurring over the years and convey it to the people on how to protect the environment. The environment is an essential part in our daily lives; environment consists of plants, animals, the atmosphere and basically everything around us. We need to protect everything so that the world can be a happy and green planet; the environment is a blessing so we need to protect it. Over the years there has been a lot of climate change which has affected the survival of our environment; if we don’t protect our planet now then we would have nothing to live on. These are a few FAQs on the environment and climate change.

FAQs on climate change and the environment:

What is climate change?

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, such as through variations in the solar cycle. But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.

This shows that climate change isn’t something that has occurred overnight rather it has been going since the 1800s which is when humans started exploiting the resources of the nature.

How has climate change affected the temperature over the years?

2011-2020 was the warmest decade recorded, with global average temperature reaching 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels in 2019. Human-induced global warming is presently increasing at a rate of 0.2°C per decade.

During the last decade the temperatures sky rocketed with feel temperatures being 10°C more than the decade before that. Climate change is caused by pollution which makes the heat rise.

How climate change affects the environment; the trees and the animals?

The trees and plants need carbon dioxide (CO₂) to survive but excessive amount of carbon dioxide harmful for the growth of plants and it can stun the growth of the plants. Due to excessive carbon dioxide, the supply of nitrogen also gets reduced which causes the plants to become sick.

More frequent and intense drought, storms, heat waves, rising sea levels, melting glaciers and warming oceans can directly harm animals, destroy the places they live, and wreak havoc on people’s livelihoods and communities. As climate change worsens, dangerous weather events are becoming more frequent or severe.

How does climate change affect agriculture?

Agriculture is extremely vulnerable to climate change. Higher temperatures eventually reduce yields of desirable crops while encouraging weed and pest proliferation. Changes in precipitation patterns increase the likelihood of short-run crop failures and long-run production declines.

Crops are an essential part of our living as most of our food resources come from crops but due to the increasing climate change it has become harder to cultivate.

How many estimated number of trees are cut down each year?

There is an estimated number of there being 3.04 trillion trees on this planet. Researchers say that there at least 15.3 billion trees chopped each year for commercial purposes and about 46% of the world’s trees have been copped down in the past 12,000 years.

We have learnt since childhood about the benefits of a tree, a tree helps to reduce the surrounding temperatures. If we want to reduce climate change then we have to stop cutting trees and start planting more.

How to prevent climate change?

We can prevent climate change by using less greenhouse gases emitting power sources, produce and support good ideas and energy, travel by public transport to reduce traffic and exploit less meat and buy organic food.

How will climate change affect the future generation?

Extreme temperatures leave many families living in poverty with less food, less clean water, lower incomes and worsening health. Children’s immune systems are still developing, leaving their rapidly growing bodies more sensitive to disease and pollution. The sea levels will rise to the point where some islands will completely get immersed underwater.