Our planet is being subjected to a large number of extreme weather events. Now in summer, with the increase in temperatures and the decrease in rainfall, the dry seasons begin. Droughts are very harmful both for humans and for species of flora and fauna.
Water is synonymous with life and increasingly frequent, intense and long-lasting droughts destroy the balance of many ecosystems. These droughts are exacerbated by the effects of global climate change.
Increased droughts and temperatures
In recent years, historical highs have been recorded for various global parameters due to extreme weather events. Extreme temperatures, extreme rainfall levels, extreme wind speeds, etc. For example, This ancient April was the hottest in 137 years. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States indicates that in April 2016 and 2017 the two largest positive anomalies of global ocean temperature have been registered since 1880. This has its explanation and is based on the increase in concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. On June 14, 2017, an atmospheric CO2 concentration of 409,58 parts per million (ppm) was recorded, a measure that confirms the continuity of the increase in greenhouse gases and that constitutes the highest peak of atmospheric CO2 detected on Earth for 800.000 years.
It must be taken for granted that the importance of greenhouse gas emissions by human action and their effect on the climate is undeniable. There are studies that state that man-made global warming atmospheric dynamics are changing. This causes the frequency and intensity with which extreme weather events occur also increases. Many heat waves and floods in the Northern Hemisphere are caused by greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change and global warming.
Predict the future
To be able to predict well what will happen in the future, measurements and observations that are as reliable as possible are needed. It is necessary to know, according to the variables that change over time, how our planet is going to affect us directly and indirectly. It is very useful to predict the future to analyze the past. Thanks to the study of changes in the climate in the past, models can be generated to help predict the future. For sure we can know how certain meteorological variables can change due to the increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases. In this way, we can predict how they will act today and what to do to avoid the greatest possible damage.
It is up to scientists to study the causes, consequences, and evolution of climate throughout Earth's history and into the future. Politicians, for their part, should listen to specialists and base their decisions on scientific data. But in addition to taking into account the evidence that scientists show, it is important, for the good of all, that what they say is correctly understood. However, the most obvious American policy is turning against the fight to avoid climate change with Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.
Efforts to stop climate change are not enough
It is unfortunate to see how the effects of climate change are becoming more evident every day and catastrophes that claim thousands of lives a year and yet the efforts to stop global warming are not enough. Although every country in the world complied with the Paris Agreement to the millimeter, average temperatures would rise above the 2 degrees that the scientific community establishes as a limit.
The challenges posed by climate change are important and urgent. The solutions are complex, among other things, because they require multinational agreements, immediate and long-term action, and acting generously. Faced with a problem of such magnitude and of global significance, the participation of all is required, in particular of those who have more capabilities and can contribute more.