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What is global warming?

Carbon dioxide and other gases warm the surface of the planet naturally by trapping solar heat in the atmosphere. This is a good thing because it keeps our planet habitable. However, by burning fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil and clearing forests we have dramatically increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere and temperatures are rising. The vast majority of scientists agree that global warming is real, it’s already happening and that it is the result of our activities and not a natural occurrence. The evidence is overwhelming and undeniable: • The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years. • Malaria has spread to higher altitudes in places like the Colombian Andes, 7,000 feet above sea level. • The flow of ice from glaciers in Greenland has more than doubled over the past decade. • At least 279 species of plants and animals are already responding to global warming, moving closer to the poles. If things continue at the current trend we can expect the following: • Deaths from global warming will double in just 25 years – to 300,000 people a year. • Global sea levels could rise by more than 20 feet with the loss of shelf ice in Greenland and Antarctica, devastating coastal areas worldwide. • Heat waves will be more frequent and more intense. • Droughts and wildfires will occur more often. • The Arctic Ocean could be ice free in summer by 2050. • More than a million species worldwide could be driven to extinction by 2050.

What can be done?

Science suggests that to mitigate the human contribution to global warming, we should reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. Because some additional warming is inevitable—even if we achieve significant greenhouse gas reductions quickly—we should make plans to adapt to coming climate change. If we are unable to control emissions and/or adapt to unavoidable changes quickly enough, a carefully selected geoengineering strategy could conceivably provide an emergency stopgap to slow global warming. As yet, however, several of the strategies being discussed are very risky and unproven.

Controlling Emissions.
Controlling emissions is a large, complex, and potentially expensive problem that no single strategy will solve. On the other hand, the costs of uncontrolled global warming will probably also be significant. Many economists have concluded that putting existing scientific and technological strategies into place and developing new ones may stimulate the economy, and would also generate significant near-term benefits in public health through air pollution reduction.

A few strategies have been identified —based solely on existing technologies—that used in combination over the next 50 years, would keep the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from more than doubling the pre-industrial level. (Many scientists believe doubled carbon dioxide levels will cause a dangerous interference with the climate.) These strategies are:

1. Increase the energy efficiency of our cars, homes, and power plants while lowering our consumption by installing solar or heat pumps and traveling fewer kilometers;
2. Capture the carbon emitted by power plants and store it underground;
3. Produce more energy from nuclear, natural gas, and renewable fuels—solar, wind, hydroelectric, and bio-fuels;
4. Halt deforestation and soil degradation worldwide, while reforesting more areas.

Some of those strategies will have to be put into place by governments and industry, but individuals can also do a lot on their own. On average, individual South African’s emit 19 tons of carbon dioxide annually while driving our cars and heating our homes. If we can reduce our personal emissions by just 5 percent, total S.A. emissions would drop by 300 million tons. That reduction could be easily achieved by replacing appliances and light bulbs with more efficient ones, planning our automobile trips more carefully, driving more fuel-efficient cars, taking fewer flights, and so on.

By learning about global warming, by communicating with elected officials about the problem, and by making energy-conscious decisions, individuals will play a meaningful role in what must be a global effort to respond to global warming.

Adapting to Climate Change
Climate has been fluctuating throughout Earth’s history, and recently, humans have become one of the factors contributing to climate change. Changes related to human activity are already being felt. Even if we were to stop greenhouse gas emissions today, additional climate change from emissions already in the atmosphere would be inevitable. For this reason, many governments and industries are beginning to adapt policies, disaster response plans, or infrastructure to prepare for anticipated changes. While some adaptations are difficult and expensive, many are relatively inexpensive and offer immediate benefits.

Adaptation strategies vary from region to region, depending on the greatest threat posed by climate change locally. For example, coastal regions facing rising sea levels and increased coastal erosion might eliminate incentives to develop high-risk coastlines and encourage a “living buffer” of sand dunes and forest between the ocean and infrastructure.

For individuals, governments, and businesses, adapting to climate change requires understanding and accepting the risks of regional climate change, assessing the immediate and long-term costs and benefits of adaptation strategies, and implementing adaptations that bring the most benefits relative to the cost and risk.