Climate Change: Nature, Causes, Effects, and Remedies

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Climate Change: Nature, Causes, Effects, and Remedies
The term climate refers to the specific weather pattern that persisted for over 30 years. Though the earth's climatic conditions vary from one region to another concerning altitude, topography, distance from the equator, and other environmental and geographical factors, any alteration in the earth's natural ecosystem directly affects climatic conditions across the globe. However, it is necessary to understand the exact definition and nature of climate change before assessing the phenomenon. According to the most accepted definition, climate change is a pronounced and long-term change in the weather pattern of a region, mainly characterized by a change in atmospheric temperature (Jackson and Jerome 4; Chirico 10.).
Anthropogenic activities, especially unsparing burning of fossil fuels, agricultural activities, and deforestation, are the main contributors to global climate change. Additionally, certain natural phenomena, including volcanic eruptions, and water vapor, also cause a perceptible change in the global climate (NASA). The effects of climate change are more pronounced in today's world and include global warming, destruction of natural habitats, rising sea levels, and unexpected rainfall patterns. These harmful changes in the earth's ecosystem are threatening the very existence of life on the earth; therefore, it is imperative to curtail the menace of climate. The following paragraph provides an in-depth analysis of the nature, causes, and effects of climate change and presents potential measures to minimize climate change.
As discussed above, climate change is a global phenomenon, and despite its recent more harmful manifestation, it has been a natural process since the inception of the earth's atmosphere. Natural climate change has been occurring for the last 65000 years and has produced various climatic stages in the world's history that kept alternating between ice ages and other hotter periods (Jackson and Jerome 4.). This natural climate change has altered the course of the earth's history as it is responsible for the extermination of several living things and the origin of newer ones. Natural climate change has caused suitable changes in the earth's atmosphere that paved the way for the evolution of life. For instance, the Green House Effect is a natural phenomenon that keeps the earth's atmosphere warm enough for all living things to live by blocking the sun's radiation from going to outer space. In this regard, gases like carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and nitrous oxide, in their natural concentration, play a vital role in maintaining the earth's atmospheric temperature (Giving Compass Network). Moreover, natural variation in the solar cycle also causes a natural change in the global climate.
Conversely, however, in recent human history, especially after the Industrial Revolution, there has been a significant rise in the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide. One of the reasons behind this unexpected and inimical rise of greenhouse gases is the extraction and extensive use of fossil fuels, petrol, natural gas, and coal, in industries and automobiles. Additionally, human activiti...