Today global temperatures rise and break records almost every month. This past August has been the warmest since there are global temperature records back in 1880. These are not isolated cases or events, this is becoming a trend.
Several official agencies set 2014 as the warmest year with higher average temperatures. And in our case, in Spain, this year we have lived in summer the longest heat wave and the hottest July in history. How can all this affect us?
Earth is warming
Global warming it is already something unquestionable. There are still people who deny the existence of climate change and changes in ecosystems (like Donald Trump), but the phenomenon is more than evident. Since the 1950s, many changes have been observed in the environment and in global temperatures. The atmosphere and oceans have warmed, the volumes of snow and ice are decreasing at an unprecedented rate, the sea level is rising… they are direct consequences of this global warming.
There are reports issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the UN, which reflects all these records. The fifth report of this panel, which was presented at the end of 2014, contains the key data used for all the negotiations corresponding to the Paris climate summit. This Paris Agreement is expected to provide the necessary guidelines to combat climate change, which is already causing havoc and damage throughout the planet, manifesting itself in the form of extreme weather events such as those affecting the Tasman Sea temperature.
Scientifically there are no arguments to deny warming and there is no government in the world that says otherwise, therefore, this is a real fact. In addition, the global warming and its consequences are visible in many aspects of our daily lives. Statistics from the warming in Spain are alarming and reflect the urgency of taking action.
Man's actions on the planet's climate
People may wonder why the planet is warming. But the answer is very simple: humans and their activities are warming ecosystems. The main causes of global warming are greenhouse gas emissions, especially from the energy sector, transportation, and land use changes (problems linked to deforestation, as observed in drought situations in Spain).
There are other natural causes of global warming, such as volcanism, variations in the Earth's orbit and axis, and solar cycles. However, these influences are largely invisible in the global climate. The problem is that we emit more CO2 than the planet can digest. Scientists point out that carbon dioxide concentrations have reached levels never seen in the last 800.000 years. And several experts point to the need for leaving a third of the planet's oil reserves untapped, half of the gas and 80% of the coal that still needs to be extracted from the bowels of the Earth if we want to avoid reaching a critical point of warming.
The oceans are unprotected
There are regulations that regulate the activities and protection of the oceans, however, only 3% of the seas and oceans enjoy some type of protection. The human activities of fishing exploitation produce that 90% of the world's fish species are detrimental to overfishing.
Beyond the 200 miles of the Exclusive Economic Zone of each State, the seas are not protected, therefore, the activities carried out there are not regulated by any type of regulation. To alleviate this situation, the international commitment is to reach the protection 10% of the oceans in 2020 and 30% in 2030.
In addition, global warming is causing acidification in the oceans. The IPCC estimates that the increase in CO2 since 1750 has caused the marine pH to decrease by 0,1 units since then. And, although the effect on biodiversity has not been sufficiently studied, it is feared that this acidification process will also end up punishing marine species, as has happened with The great coral barrier.
As we have summarized in this post, the effects of climate change are devastating for our lives, that is why measures must be taken now to solve and avoid all these problems.
