“Houston, we have a problem”: the famous phrase (literally “Houston, we have a problem”), uttered, perhaps not in these exact words, by the crew of Apollo 13 during a troubled reentry to Earth (in 1970), has become legendary and a staple of popular quotes. Especially when it comes to addressing serious problems for people's future, such as global warming . This is what is truly shaking the Earth and all of us, under the impact of an imbalance that is now unsustainable. This is what we must fully understand, in all its aspects, before even considering countermeasures, which have now become extremely urgent.
GLOBAL WARMING EFFECTS
Let's immediately clear up a potential misunderstanding: global warming is just one aspect of climate change, not the only one, and perhaps not the decisive one, given the caution adopted by renowned climatologists. But it is a question that needs to be addressed.
By global warming, we mean the rise in Earth's temperatures caused by the growing concentration of polluting gases in the atmosphere. These temperatures, mind you, are rising both on the Earth's surface and in our seas.
READ ALSO: North Pole, a concert with ice instruments to stop global warming (photos and video)
GLOBAL WARMING
Much of the scientific literature claims that global warming, recorded over the last 50 years, is caused by the increasing presence of carbon dioxide and polluting gases generated by the combustion of fossil fuels and by human industrial or agricultural activities.
However, there are those who believe that global warming is a hoax (as is climate change, derogatorily called a “hoax” by Donald Trump in one of his most famous tweets ), but accredited and periodic studies have demonstrated that the issue is anything but unfounded: the alarm is well-founded. More than well-founded.
The most authoritative intergovernmental source on the subject of global warming and climate change is certainly the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme.
The scientists of the prestigious organization are moving on forecast horizons covering a time frame that has as its end point the beginning of the next century.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Late last year, an IPCC report predicted a global temperature increase of between 0.8 and 1.2°C compared to the pre-industrial era, largely caused by activities related to the industrial boom of the second half of the twentieth century. If emissions continue at the rates observed between 1986 and 2005, the IPCC sees a serious risk that the Earth's surface temperature could rise by 3–4°C by 2100.
Alarming, if one considers that many climatologists fear irreparable damage even if the temperature were to rise by only 2°C by 2100. The consequences for the global ecosystem could be truly devastating , with an excessive rise in sea levels and a progressive melting of the enormous polar glaciers.
Furthermore, many plant and animal species would risk extinction, and entire populations could be forced into uncontrollable migration processes to abandon now uninhabitable territories.
READ MORE: Does the abnormal cold disprove global warming? No, exactly the opposite is true.
GLOBAL WARMING PLACES AT RISK
As a community of men and women called to inhabit and safeguard the Earth, we cannot continue with suicidal behavior. We are called to avoid wasting resources, space, food, and raw materials.
The Agreement of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Climate Change, signed in 2015 in Paris (COP21), provides for a concrete commitment by governments to keep the increase in global temperature within 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.
This is an enormous challenge because, if current emissions levels do not decrease, the 1.5°C increase could be reached very quickly, between 2030 and 2052.
Among the countries most at risk for the immediate future is Pakistan , one of Asia's great powers. Despite contributing less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, its 200 million inhabitants are experiencing a sudden rise in temperatures, accompanied by droughts and floods that threaten Pakistani society's already precarious development prospects.
EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Given its geographic location, the country could experience a 4°C increase in temperatures by 2100, the maximum foreseeable. In 2017, a temperature of 53,5°C was recorded in the city of Turbat—baking heat, so to speak.
Similar risks are foreseeable in various areas of the equatorial region, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo , but our Mediterranean is also experiencing a worrying situation.
According to a study conducted by the Institute of Marine Sciences of the National Research Council in Venice (Ismar-CNR), together with the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton and the Institut nationale des sciences et technologies de la Mer in Salamboo, evaporation of water from the Mediterranean Sea is greater than precipitation and river inflows; furthermore, temperature and salinity are increasing at a faster rate than those of the oceans.
So how can we help change things, reducing CO2 emissions and other pollutants, even through our daily behavior? The answer lies in many of the contents of the Non sprecare website and in the daily exchange of information, advice, and stories we engage in with our community. If you're aware of the dangers and problems associated with global warming, a phenomenon that therefore also affects your area of residence, then all you need to do is choose one (or more) of the areas where you can contribute. By improving your lifestyle, and thus your health and well-being. And by doing your part in improving the general conditions and health of our common home, the Earth, with its immense wonders.
And what are the areas where you can play your part by pushing the accelerator of change? Here are the most important ones. Mobility, with ample space for all alternatives to the automobile as we understood it in the twentieth century. Advance with hybrid and electric vehicles and any clean fuel; space for sharing and not just ownership, not to mention some more radical alternatives to the shared car, from cycling to the pleasure and necessity of walking. Everywhere and in any case. Energy consumption: no more waste , in homes, offices, and public places. At the table: always favor genuine, seasonal foods, and make way for innovation in organic and all the various forms of sales (from zero-mile to tap shops), as long as they are inspired by sustainability and a good quality-price ratio. Therefore, no preclusions even for large-scale retail trade, as long as they are aligned with the principles of sustainable change. And finally, but the list could be truly endless and we refer you to the website menu: zero plastic , less packaging, less waste. And more civility.
THE SMALL AND BIG BATTLES TO SAVE THE PLANET
- Ocean pollution: Slat launches its platforms to eliminate plastic. The Ocean Cleanup project (photos and video)
- How to Avoid Marine Pollution: The Pacific Ocean Is Overrun with Plastic
- Rome, the bike workshop where students learn about environmental respect and civic education (video)
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