Impacts of Climate Change
Climate Change has been increasing Earth’s temperature for many years now, without much being done about it. With more carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere, temperatures will continue to increase, causing more harm to the environment and people. Greenhouse gases are a significant contributor to climate change. They trap the heat from the sun, which is a reason why Earth’s temperatures are rising. This is the fastest that the world is warming. If we don’t reduce the amount of CO2 in the air, then Earth will keep getting hotter. The damage caused will keep getting worse. Climate change wasn’t noticed or considered a thing until the 1950s. There was little evidence of what caused climate change. But one thing they considered was the impact of human activities.
Human activities have been increasing and causing climate change to get worse. “It took nearly a century of research and data to convince the vast majority of the scientific community that human activity could alter the climate of our entire planet,” said editors in the Climate Change History article, edited in September of 2025. All the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere from factories, cars, etc., is from humans. More and more CO2 continues to enter the atmosphere, and it will not stop unless we take action. According to the History Global Warming timeline, climate change didn’t worry people be. Temperatures started to rise, and in the summer of 1988, they recorded it as the hottest summer. After that, the media and people started to pay more attention to climate change. A year later, they formed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC).
How Climate Change Threatens Human Health
Many people may not realize this, but climate change affects humans in certain ways. The World Health Organization found in October of 2023, human activities have caused 37% heat-related deaths. Data from the WHO showed that roughly 2 billion people have no access to clean drinking water. About 600 million people have foodborne illnesses. Climate stresses increase waterborne illnesses. Changes in temperature and precipitation spread vector-borne diseases more. Without any actions to reduce this, deaths may rise from the diseases. “It affects the physical environment as well as all aspects of both natural and human systems – including social and economic conditions and the functioning of health systems,” said the World Health Organization.
Solutions to Reduce Greenhouse Gases
Individuals and governments must take immediate action to reduce climate change impacts. “While we cannot stop global warming overnight, we can slow the rate and limit the amount of global warming by reducing human emissions of heat-trapping gases and soot,” said David Herring and Rebecca Lindsey, writers for Climate.gov. According to David Herring and Rebecca Lindsey, we need to limit greenhouse gases. We should use more energy sources that use renewable resources, while reducing the use of fossil fuels. Using solar energy, wind turbines, etc., can help slow climate change. Scientists have thought about using geoengineering to reduce climate change. The only problem is that there isn’t a lot known about the side effects of geoengineering.
CO2 in the atmosphere
The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere keeps growing and continues warming Earth. In 2024, the concentration of carbon dioxide reached its highest level ever, at 421.73 ppm. “Analysis by NOAA shows that average global temperatures in 2024 were 2.3 degrees F (1.28 degrees C) warmer than the 20th-century average,” states Climate Change facts. As more and more CO2 is being released into the air, it is affecting the Earth more and more. Temperatures rise, and more droughts occur. Trees are one of the main sources that take CO2 out of the air. Reducing deforestation will allow more trees to reduce CO2. Other sources also do this, but not enough is being done.
Carbon dioxide emissions continue to increase, intensifying atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations.. Most of that carbon dioxide will stay in the atmosphere. Such things as trees and other organisms in nature will consume some of the CO2. They do not consume enough, though, to reduce climate change. Humans need to reduce the amount of CO2 released from factories and other things. We need to transition to better options for making things. For this world to stay healthy and living, everyone needs to do their part in some way. If not, there may not be an Earth anymore.
