Gen Z Could Be The Saviours | Climate Change Essay by Yashi,16, Birmingham

Since the Ice Age, Earth and the people living on it have progressed drastically. Along with the pros come the cons, the increasing technological development has increased global temperatures. According to the research done by the Goddard Institute of Space Studies, the temperature has risen a little bit more than 1 degree Celsius since 1880. Well, why should it be a concern when just 1 degree does not affect us on a large scale? Future predictions say that by the end of the 21st Century, the temperature will rise at the same rate. The rate will increase even more in the future and cause severe global warming.

Global Warming is when the heat from the sun’s rays gets trapped in the atmosphere and the carbon emissions mix with the heat to increase global temperature. It is caused by activities such as oil drilling and deforestation. We all know that the Industrial Revolution had a great impact on greenhouse gases and carbon emissions. There are many sub-topics connected to this and one of them is the type of energy we use.

  Non-Renewable energy mainly consists of oil, coal, and natural gas. Once they are used up, it will take millions of years to replace them. When these fossil fuels are burnt, they release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are harmful to the environment. Contrasting to that is renewable energy that is now in demand as developed countries urge to reduce climate change. A few years ago, countries used coal as their only energy source but the rapid depletion of coal and Non-Renewable sources force countries to make and use machines like windmills and solar panels to conserve and use energy appropriately. On a national level, the UK plans to make much more use of tidal and wave power as a source of energy to supply basic electricity to run homes of smaller towns. Using renewable energy is good for the environment and for our health. It also saves money because once it is made, it doesn’t need repair nor does it need high maintenance. We have recently started to use Renewable Energy; however, the developed nations have played a huge role in increasing carbon emissions due to the increasing number of factories and equally decreasing the number of trees. As all countries are now aware of climate change, the Paris Agreement is a collective agreement that works with countries to reduce global warming.

The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation (reduction). It is signed by 195 countries on 22nd April 2016. It was effective from 4th November 2016. The agreement aims to limit global warming and increase economic and social adaptability to extreme climate, it also aims to direct the scale and speed of global financial flows to match the required path to low emissions. Similar to that was the Kyoto Protocol which was signed by 84 countries on the 11th of December 1997. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a dramatic drop in global greenhouse emissions which suggests that the reduction of pollution is still under human control. The COVID-19 lockdowns in early 2020 made the carbon emissions fall by 17%; however, the overall effect has been really small. Preliminary estimates suggest that CO2 emissions continue to rise but they will be reduced by 0.08 to 0.23 ppm.

The disruption to Earth’s climate equilibrium is caused by the increased concentration of one or more greenhouse gases. The difference between the enhanced greenhouse effect and global warming is that the enhanced greenhouse effect is the increasing amount of greenhouse gases, while global warming is the change in the global pattern of climate precipitation, temperature, winds and pressure systems. 

The ozone layer or ozone shield is a region of Earth’s stratosphere that absorbs most of the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation. The stratosphere is a layer of gases above the atmosphere. The ozone layer plays a big role in increasing greenhouse gases and global temperatures. It heats up the atmosphere by absorbing ultraviolet rays and infrared radiation. Ultraviolet rays and infrared radiation are forms of electromagnetic radiation. 

The Earth’s temperature in the past was very different to the type of climate today. 4.5 billion years ago the levels of carbon dioxide were much more and there was barely any oxygen. The atmosphere has evolved since the very second that Earth was formed. Our generation is the only generation that can bring change because a few years from now the climate would be worsened and we won’t be able to get it back to normal. For all countries, this is an issue that will always remain on the bucket list of problems. We need to bring positive change through our actions and responsibilities to give future generations a better atmosphere and world to live in.