Climate change is an issue that has been around for decades. It wreaks havoc through elevated nitrogen dioxide levels, heightened temperatures and poor air quality.
In recent years, activism for this dilemma has skyrocketed, with calls for action to change the way climate change is approached, through action and understanding. However, since the eruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, the troubles surrounding climate change have been neglected, as the focus for distress has shifted to the pandemic.
“Climate change is inarguably the world’s largest looming public health emergency; however, though science supports this claim, many continue to ignore it,” according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
According to UNICEF, there is evidence that the ongoing destruction of our planet through climate change has facilitated pathogens to thrive in areas where they may have not been able to before.
How is climate change happening?
Every day, there is an increase in climate change due to human activities. According to the U.S. Global Change Research Program, “humans are adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere at a rate far greater than it is removed by natural processes, creating a long-lived reservoir of the gas in the atmosphere and oceans that is driving the climate to a warmer and warmer state.”
This information is evident in everyday activities such as eating, driving and using electricity. The power to energize power in Illinois comes from nuclear power and fossil fuels. Nuclear power is carbon-free, while fossil fuels hinder the environment, as they run on coal. This emits copious amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere which contributes to the greenhouse gas effect. Another example is the usage of cars that are not electric or high efficiency.
“Highway vehicles release about 1.7 billion tons of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere each year — mostly in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2) — contributing to global climate change. Each gallon of gasoline you burn creates 20 pounds of GHG,” according to Fuel Economy.
Changes due to COVID-19
However, the current times have slowed down this cause for action due to the global shift toward the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic caused a measurable decrease in CO2 emissions, but as soon as the shutdown stopped, those numbers started to increase again,” said Associate Professor of physics Paul Bloom. He mentioned the need for this number to come down quickly. This is due to the limited carbon that can go into the atmosphere before catastrophic effects happen to the ecosystem.
What can we do?
The government can aid in the battle against climate change by intervening in the market failure surrounding electricity. Marketers hide the true cost of electricity from burning coal which releases carbon into the atmosphere. This in turn degrades the climate system. That leads to the tragedy of the commons because the consumers are buying under false pretenses.
Individually, a person can donate to a program such as One Tree Planted which is a non-profit organization that plants trees for every dollar donated. Another way people can contribute to a greener footprint is to drive a higher-efficiency vehicle. There are also simple solutions, like cutting down on eating hamburgers.
According to the World Resources Institute, “beef requires 20 times more land and emits 20 times more GHG emissions per gram of edible protein than common plant proteins, such as beans.”
“Climate change is such a global and pervasive problem. It affects everybody and everything that lives on this planet,” said Bloom.
