What are the causes and consequences of climate change?

What are the causes and consequences of climate change?

Humanity is increasingly influencing the climate and temperature on earth through the use of fossil fuels, cutting down rainforests and raising livestock. The amount of naturally occurring greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases enormously, and this increases the greenhouse effect and global warming.

How does climate change come about?

Global warming is due to the human-amplified greenhouse effect. By nature, clouds, carbon dioxide and methane keep the warmth in the atmosphere like a greenhouse and thus ensure that we can live on earth.

What happens when the earth warms up?

Melting ice and rising sea levels Water expands when it warms. At the same time, the polar ice caps and glaciers are melting as a result of global warming. These changes are causing sea levels to rise, causing flooding and erosion in coastal and lowland areas.

What is the cause of the sharp rise in greenhouse gases?

In addition to this natural greenhouse, however, there is now human influence: primarily through the burning of fossil fuels (coal, crude oil and natural gas) and changes in land use (such as clearing forests), people have concentrated greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over the last 150 years …

What influence does the greenhouse effect have on the global climate?

Since the beginning of industrialization, more and more carbon dioxide, methane and other so-called greenhouse gases have been transported into the atmosphere. The more greenhouse gases there are, the less long-wave thermal radiation gets into space and the stronger and faster the earth heats up.

What does co2 have to do with the greenhouse effect?

It therefore mainly contributes to the natural greenhouse effect. The problem: the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere depends on the temperature. More CO2 leads to rising temperatures, which leads to more water vapor and intensifies the greenhouse effect – a positive feedback that can have major effects.

How does co2 work as a greenhouse gas?

Greenhouse gases are gaseous components of the atmosphere that cause the so-called greenhouse effect. In doing so, they absorb long-wave radiation (thermal radiation) that is radiated from the earth’s surface, the clouds and the atmosphere itself.

What is the significance of the natural greenhouse effect for life on earth?

The heated earth’s surface emits long-wave heat rays, a large part of which is absorbed by constituents of the atmosphere (greenhouse gases and clouds) and radiated in all directions. The part of this radiation directed downwards, towards the earth’s surface, is responsible for the greenhouse effect.

Why is co2 so bad for the climate?

Why is CO2 harmful to the climate? CO2 is a greenhouse gas and, with increasing concentration in the atmosphere, leads to a warming of the earth’s climate. Too high a concentration of CO2 in the air can lead to permanent global warming and thus seriously imbalance our ecosystem.

Is co2 good for the environment?

CO2 is a greenhouse gas: like the glass in a greenhouse, it prevents heat from escaping from the earth into space. This increases the greenhouse effect and the earth heats up more and more.

Why is co2 harmful to the ozone layer?

Climate change is caused by increasing emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. The ozone hole, on the other hand, is mainly caused by fluorine-chlorine hydrocarbons (CFCs), which damage the ozone layer at a height of 20 to 35 kilometers in the atmosphere.

Why do we have to save co2?

We can all contribute to protecting the climate by using energy sparingly and using renewable energy sources instead of fossil fuels. Especially in buildings, in the transport sector and in industry, this can significantly reduce CO2 emissions.

How can you save co2 in everyday life?

The simplest tips to save CO2: switch from car to bike or public transport as often as possible, avoid traveling by plane or reduce it. Heating a little less helps: You can save a lot of CO2 per year with a room temperature reduced by 1 ° C.

What causes co2 in everyday life?

Animal products make up the majority of the CO2 emissions caused by our diet. For every kilo of beef, around 13 kilos of greenhouse gases are blown into the air. Organic products are a bit more climate-friendly: one kilo of beef produced causes slightly fewer emissions at 11 kilos.

What saves how much co2?

Showering, eating, getting around – CO2 can be saved everywhere. This is immediately possible in four areas of everyday life: food, electricity, heating and mobility – leave the car behind for a week, eat vegetables instead of meat and use electrical devices and warm water sparingly. The heating also stays off.

What can you do about co2 emissions?

10 tips on what you can do for the climateElectricity from an independent eco-provider. By bike, bus or train to work. Less meat on the plate. Cancel short-haul flights. Organic from the region in the basket. Turn down the heating. Full machine, low temperature. Leave energy guzzlers in the store.

When is the CO2 tax?

The CO2 tax on petrol, diesel, heating oil and gas is to apply in Germany from January 2021. Until now, companies in certain sectors have had to pay for CO2 emissions. These include, for example, airlines or industrial companies that produce a large amount of the greenhouse gas.

Why is it important to save energy for climate protection?

Save energy the smart way! Fridges and freezers are among the biggest power guzzlers. If you increase the temperature by just one degree, power consumption drops by six percent. Energy-saving lamps not only consume a fifth of electricity compared to incandescent lamps, they also burn around 15 times longer.

What can I do to save energy?

But there are a few things you can do to save energy: Economical devices without batteries. Plug out. Right refrigerator in the right place. Cooking with gas. Heat down, door closed. Light off. Little kitchen helpers. Goodbye to plastic bags.

What does energy efficiency class A ++ mean?

What exactly does the designation A ++ mean? A ++ is the designation for the energy efficiency class and is an evaluation scale for the European energy label. As an example, a washing machine with the energy efficiency class A +++ has a savings potential of 32% compared to the reference class A.