Introduction
Climate change has been a part of Earth’s history since the beginning of its time, and as such has had many events of cooling and warming periods throughout its rich history. Dating back all the way to ancient Greece, whispers circulated through people about the potential for humans to alter temperatures and sway weather patterns, whether through deforestation or agricultural practices.
While some of these notions were dismissed as folklore, it turns out that humans indeed can affect the climate! The pioneering work of French mathematician Joseph Fourier unveiled the concept of the Greenhouse Effect. By studying radiation, Foster theorised incoming solar energy must find equilibrium with outgoing radiation, hinting at the Earth's capacity to trap heat. Later on, experiments would be conducted with glass cylinders and various greenhouse gases to confirm this, showcasing the atmosphere’s ability to act similar to a greenhouse. Energy comes in through the glass walls and is trapped inside, warming it. This birthed the classification of 5 greenhouse gases of the atmosphere: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapour, and ozone.
Fast forward through history, and scientists dig into the past, checking out old climate records. After studying the history of the climate and its changes, scientists were able to uncover various paleoclimates: the climate during a past geological stage. Evidence of past climates can be found in tree rings, coral reefs, ocean sediments, and more! In these paleoclimates, they find patterns of warming and cooling, usually this is when an ice age happens. Bug lately, in the last century, the climate has warmed at a rate 8 times faster than warming in past paleoclimates. And guess what? It's not Mother Nature's doing. To understand this, scientists studied all natural cycles and phenomenons that could possibly have accounted for such a change. But there was none! The only thing that could have possibly accounted for this change is human activity.
Humans and Climate Change
This is where anthropogenic climate change comes in, a fancy term for saying humans are messing up the climate with our actions and the burning of fossil fuels. Groups like the IPCC have been sounding the alarm since the '70s. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) formed under the UN to research climate change and its impacts said: “Since systematic scientific assessments began in the 1970s, the influence of human activity on the warming of the climate system has evolved from theory to established fact.
Since climate change has become apparent in modern media and countries rally to get behind it, there were two important pieces of work to attack it. The Kyoto Protocol in 1997, and the Paris Agreement in 2015. The former was the first global agreement for greenhouse gas reductions, and the latter was attempting to prevent global temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius, also resulting in the Sustainable Development Goals.
What does climate change mean for our future?
So far, there is increasing evidence associated with climate change. Look around! There are already signs:
- Rising global temperatures
- Warmer oceans
- Shrinking ice sheets
- Retreating glaciers
- Sea level rise
- Increase of extreme weather events
- Ocean acidification
Luckily, all hope is not lost. It is our responsibility to now do our part to be mindful of our consumption and our habits, and support legislation trying to tackle climate change. It's a wake-up call, for sure. But it's also a chance for us to step up and make a difference. Here at SR Mailing, we do our best to keep our footprint low, and our eco-friendly products high. We offer several carbon neutral options for your shipping, to guarantee that your footprint stays low and your contribution to rising temperatures, minimal. Check out some of our carbon neutral products here!
