A major question over the past few years has been how can climate change affect the world? The second largest question asked is how can we fix climate change? Many researchers have thought up great ideas on how to reverse or fix the damage climate change has done and how to prevent it in the future. These researchers are proposing their ideas to country leaders, while others are taking matters into their own hands and going to social media to talk about how to fix the damage and prevent it. Throughout this article, it will tell about climate change; what it is, how countries are dealing with it and all the damage it has done and will do to Earth. It will also tell some ideas on how to fix and how to prevent climate change .
The Dutch government has said “Scientists consider the continued increasing concentrations of CO₂ emissions as the main cause of climate change. Through this process, the temperature rises, and as a result, the sea level rises as well. In an effort to reduce CO₂ emissions, the Dutch government takes mitigation and adaptation measures and cooperates with non-state actors. Besides, the Netherlands is committed to tackling climate issues on a global scale and actively participates in international negotiations and agreements.”1 In 2017, only 6% of Europeans expressed concern about climate change, but 8% said it was one of the top issues facing the EU.2 If all the ice caps in Antarctica, Greenland and mountain glaciers around the world melted, the sea would rise 70 meters (230 feet).3 If this were to happen, New York City, Philadelphia, all of Florida, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Toronto, Montréal, Havana, London, Amsterdam and 99% of The Netherlands, Brussels, Copenhagen, Stockholm and many more major cities will be submerged under the ocean. The Aral Sea will be given all its water back, but at the cost of many lives and land. In the ice caps of Antarctica, there are microorganisms that are over 8 million years old. They are currently dormant, but in 2010, scientists took samples of these ancient ancestors and put them in salt water. The microorganisms came out of their suspended state of sleep and came back to life. The scientists have not yet found out, but the organisms could potentially be deadly. We have no idea what they are and what purpose they served many millions of years ago. The scientists cannot fully and thoroughly test the microorganisms to see if they are in fact deadly, because it could pose a major threat to all of humanity.
Between May and July, Scandinavia had the driest and warmest period on record.
The highest temperatures ever were recorded in the Arctic Circle. In Helsinki-Vantaa Finland, figures how record long runs of warm temperatures. There were 25 consecutive days of heat above 25ºC. It was exceptionally warm in the United Kingdom and Ireland too and wildfires swept through Sweden burning up 25,000 hectares of land. Dry conditions persisted in Germany, where the April to September period was the second driest on record. Frankfurt sweltered in 19 consecutive days of heat above 30ºC from 23 July to 9 August.4 The leading causes of all this climate change are greenhouse gasses. These include Carbon Dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases. CO₂ is the greenhouse gas most commonly produced by human activities and it is responsible for 64% of man-made global warming. Its concentration in the atmosphere is currently 40% higher than it was when industrialization began.5 Norway says they will only sell zero-emissions cars by 2025. India says every car sold in India will be electric by 2030. Both France and The U.K. say they will ban the sale of gas and diesel powered cars by 2040 to fight climate change.6 Gas and diesel are part of the greenhouse gasses.
There are eight countries that have land above the arctic circle. This includes The U.S., Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Most of these countries can reach each other by going through the arctic circle faster than they can watch “Titanic”. Anchorage, Alaska is closer to Tromsø, Norway than it is to New York City, NY. And Alert, Canada is so close to Tromsø, Norway that you can fly a turbo-prop plane from one city to the the other. People are now using Canada’s Northwest Passage to sail from Europe to The Pacific U.S. and to Asia because there is not as much ice as there was fifty years ago. The M.S. Nordic Orion was the first boat through the Northwest Passage from Vancouver, Canada to Pori, Norway. The boat was so small that it could get through the passage, which at that time, was only three feet deep. Now, large cargo boats go through the passage every once in a while. These boats cut off 80000USD in fuel costs by using the Northwest Passage.7 The trouble is that most countries say the Northwest Passage is international waters, but Canada says it is not international waters. Canada has reason to think the water is completely theirs. There is still dangerous ice in the passage and the number of successful trips through is only in the double digits. Canada is also trying to preserve the ice that is in The Northwest Passage.
100% clean and renewable energy is available for a huge amount of the world. Most people can obtain solar power from a central source. Like if someone lives in a big community, they all should be on one big central solar power that powers all the houses. Electric cars are available for most people in the world. In all U.S. states, if you drive an electric car, you get a tax deduction. California offers the highest incentive of 7,500USD. Colorado offers 5,000USD and Delaware offers 3,500USD.8 Many other countries also do this; Norway, The Netherlands, Iceland, China, Japan, The United Kingdom, The United States of America, Canada, etc.
