Climate Change Essay for Students in English

Climate change refers to a statistical distribution of weather patterns when such change lasts for a significant period of time, typically decades to centuries. Natural internal processes or external factors and continuous changes in the composition in the atmosphere and land lead to climate change.

Variations in Earth’s orbit lead to differences in solar radiation received by Earth, which in turn leads to different seasons and at different places on Earth can affect the global climate. Changes in ocean heat circulation patterns create a strong impact on the climate.

There are five components of Earth’s climate system. They are atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere and biosphere. Climate change means a change in any or all of these components. 

Reasons for Climate Change

Human Activities: Humans have directly influenced the climate. The alteration in the composition of the atmosphere is considered the most important human-influenced due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels like coal and petroleum products in industries, motorized vehicles, electric power plants and homes heated with gas or oil, the burning of wood as fuel and cleaning of forested land or agricultural purposes. The rapid growth of industrialization and urbanization has increased the global atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased to 393.69 parts per million. This has caused a major impact on the availability of freshwater, acidification of ocean water, production of food, flooding of coastal areas and increased number of water-borne diseases associated with extreme weather events. 

Volcanic Eruptions: This is considered as one of the important factors in affecting the Earth’s climate, especially those volcanoes, which emit Sulphur dioxide in large quantities into the stratosphere. They absorb the radiation from the sun and create a layer of sulphuric acid. Other than volcanoes, the movement of tectonic plates and Earth’s orbit affect the global and local patterns of the climate. 

Solar Energy: Sun in the predominant source of energy input to the Earth. Variations in solar intensity have impacted the climate on a large scale. 

Effects of Climate Change

The position of glaciers is the major sign of Climate change. The mass of the glaciers is determined by the snow input and the melting output. Over the years because of the rise in the global temperatures, their sizes have started to shrink, which is leading to the escalation of sea levels. The ice on the Arctic Ocean is melting rapidly, which is another proof of climate change.

Climate change has affected agriculture on a large scale. Further, it has negatively affected the production of the crop in the low latitude countries. The distribution and density of vegetation are also affected because of climate change. The increase in temperature has led to the early onset of flowering and fruiting, which in turn has affected the life cycles of animals that are dependent on them. 

Climate change has impacted human health. A change in temperature has disturbed the natural ecosystem. Over the years, a change in precipitation and temperature has increased the amount of water-borne and food-borne diseases, viral diseases and diseases transmitted through insects. 

Extreme weather events have caused a range of direct and indirect health effects from mental disorders to infectious diseases. Poor air quality has already affected public health like heart diseases, respiratory diseases, allergies and many other health issues related to air pollution. 

Prevention of Climate Change

To combat climate change many organizations are working towards ecological sustainability in order to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.  We, as individuals also need to take the responsibility of lessening the impact on the climate by modifying our transportation modes, energy consumption, eating habits and waste utilization. 

Conclusion

Even though we might feel that our lifestyle is a small factor that is causing changes in the climate but the choices that we make in our day-to-day life can play a major role in slowing down the change. Our tiny carbon footprints can affect the big picture of climate change. So, let us all make efforts in small ways to have a Greener Earth.