YOU MIGHT HAVE HEARD of the term “Climate change”, either from a tv news report, a radio broadcast or even written in large black and white font on the headlines of a newspaper. Climate change has been a buzzword in many news publications but the average human does not know what it is all about and is clueless as to what brings about these changes to the environment.

According to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), climate change can be described as a broad range of activities that is caused mainly by the burning of fossil fuels which add gases that trap heat to the earth’s atmosphere. Examples of fossil fuels are oil, gas or coal used to power various households and industries, these gases such as C02, methane etc. are called greenhouse gases and are also released from the indiscriminate burning of trees, refuse and plastics in the open air.

These activities have caused the increased temperature in various places and have led to ice mass loss in Greenland, Antarctica amongst others, sea-level rise, extreme weather events such as flooding and gully formation in Sango Otta, Ogun state, and Iwogban community in Edo State, Nigeria, coupled with other areas in the world. In most cases, global warming is more familiar to people and is often used in place of the term climate change. However, global warming is just a small aspect of climate change, a chunk of this bigger phenomenon that is rapidly becoming a huge threat to the environment.

“The planet is at a dangerous tipping point and since it’s majorly human activities that got it to this stage, the reversal back to a sustainable environment also lies in our hands.”

The evidence of climate change is not just a theory as it is seen in several occurrences in the planet such as; the changing of weather patterns, the wet areas are being afflicted with more rain and the dry areas with scorching sun, it has also increased the frequency of natural disasters and made oceans more acidic.

AMONG OTHER THINGS, air pollution is on the rise with soot, smog and exhaust fumes mixing up with clean air and causing a host of respiratory diseases for the population. The planet is at a dangerous tipping point and since it’s majorly human activities that got it to this stage, the reversal back to a sustainable environment also lies in our hands.

With all that is happening, what we can do to turn the tide and restore the environment from the ruin that threatens our ecological systems, lies in actionable steps;

First of all, get informed on this concept, read as much as you can on climate action and the effects it has on the ecosystem and then educate others around you.

The goal is to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases so there should be a focus on recycling plastic products, using renewable energy such as solar inverters that make use of the sun, hydro-powered turbines rather than engines that use fossil fuels and pollute the environment, planting more trees instead of burning them to the ground and patronizing brands that use eco-friendly and biodegradable products.

As Ken Livingstone said, “To tackle climate change, you don’t have to reduce the quality of life, however, you do have to change the way you live.” A reminder that these steps can only be accomplished when these intentional decisions are made and implemented by you and me.