The Pandemic that is not Covid: Climate Change

Introduction

There is no doubt that the entire world has paid its dues to Covid19 with the pandemic claiming as much as over 2.5 million lives thus far. While it has left the entire world shaken, the worst might be over as big Pharmas all over the world roll out vaccines against the deadly virus. While the virus has been given enormous attention so much so that a solution was more or less swiftly found in the name of vaccines, a particular pandemic has been ravaging the planet for a while and will continue to do so unless as much or even more attention is given to as Covid19.

According to World Health Organization, climate change is projected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year, from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress between 2030 and 2050. The world is changing at quite a fast rate and you and I have contributed either positively or negatively to this change. Climate change has been an anthem sung all over the world yet very few people take action to protect our world from the impending hazard it could face in the future.

^{By: William Crochot - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36382869}

The world as we know it

Although people have found a way to navigate through the increasing temperature by use of air conditioners, sunscreen, and greenhouses, it doesn't change the fact that the climate is evolving and I must say, negatively. The sun has now become a thing we dread and the rains are not always light, hurricanes and floods are no longer news. Changes in precipitation patterns will in the near future affect food production which in turn will affect the economy too. Covid-19, if anything, has made the world realize that we aren't far apart, and as such it is only wise to prevent a global pandemic that could result from our day-to-day activities.

Over a thousand people lost their lives in Malawi, Mozambique, and zimbabwe due to cyclone Idai in march 2019, and cyclone Kenneth hit northern Mozambique six weeks later. in 2020, Australia recorded one of the deadliest wildfires which burned over 10 million hectares of land, killed about 28 people, and rendered many homeless. more disasters such as drought and floods have been recorded in the past year which is just a reminder that the climate needs attention.

Will 2021 have disasters? Or will this be a turning point? So far the glaciers in India and the earthquake in Indonesia are proof that there's still more work to be done to combat this environmental challenge.

Factors that Affect Climate Change

How much of a change in the climate will be experienced depends on a host of factors. These factors have been highlighted below.

Latitude

The angular distance of a place north or south of the earth's equator is defined as its latitude, and since the earth is spherical, its movement around the sun accounts for the change in seasons we experience, so the closer we are to the sun, the hotter the earth will be, and vice versa.

Ocean Currents

These affect the temperature of the coast by either warming or cooling the air above it.

Wind and air masses

This is basically the movement of air particles or masses with their distinct temperature from one region to another with the influence of wind.

Elevation

Have you noticed that the higher you go the cooler the temperature is? That's climate change too and it is as a result of the expansion of air as it rises and due to lower pressure as it ascends.

Relief

In simple terms, this is referring to the shape of the land in relation to temperature, in mountainous environments, warm air rises up due to the air that is forced over the higher ground, which cools and then precipitates in form of rainfall.

If these are the factors that affect climate change, why then should the world be worried you may ask. Even though man has no direct influence on the aforementioned factors, we happen to be the major cause of climate change. Here's why;

The Human Factor

The rising use of non-biodegradable, burning of fossil fuels, and cutting of forests have increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These gases serve as an umbrella to the heat that comes into the earth, thereby stopping the escape of heat back to space, an undeniably bad practice almost everyone is guilty of. This increases global surface temperature and can cause drought, increase desertification, increase the rate of thunderstorms, decrease the world's glaciers and the polar ice caps, and many other consequences.

Changes we may not want to embrace just like the lockdown and Covid19, may be an accompanying ally to disasters of climate change. Heatwaves and floods are but a few to the list of disasters we do not want to experience.

Climate Change: The Vaccine

Just like the Covid19 virus, climate change also has its own vaccine, albeit an unconventional one. I have already established that a climate change disaster could be likened to a global pandemic, but is there an antidote for this dreaded occurrence? Well, it may seem so.

As you may Have rightly guessed, plants are vaccines as they tend to give a degree of cleansing to the environment.
Notice I said a "degree", there are greenhouse gases that plants do not make use of, as such, it is our global civic responsibility and moral obligation to limit or regulate the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and waste management.

^{solar panel for generating electricity is more plant friendly.}

If one can ride a bus to work, do so to save the planet. If you can't ride a bus then use fuel-efficient vehicles, power homes and offices with renewable energy, plant a tree before you buy that furniture, recycle and most important preach and teach people around you the importance of human intervention in climate change.

Closing words

Climate change, the unpredictability of climate as a result of a rise in the global temperature brought about by a rise in the emission/concentration of greenhouse gases can be likened to a pandemic. But while a pandemic can be tackled by a vaccine, the vaccine for climate change is an unconventional one requiring both a change in lifestyle and actionable moves. Changes to lifestyle involve adopting a living that will limit the number of greenhouse gases that are being emitted to the environment while the actionable moves involve planting trees to sequestrate some of the already emitted ones.

Thank you all for reading.