Summers are becoming unbearably hot as temperatures are rising and heating up day by day. The only source of respite is air conditioners/coolers, but even they are in jeopardy due to a lack of coal, resulting in frequent power outages in India. The rise in demand has been exacerbated by early summer heatwaves in numerous sections of the country.
Fact: In March 2022, India reported record temperatures, making it the warmest in 122 years since records began.
According to existing research, summers could endure half the year by the end of the century. The study discovered that climate change is making summers hotter and longer while reducing the other three seasons (Winters, Autumn and Spring).
Why are summers getting hotter?
The answer is straightforward and consistent since people are doing nothing but exacerbating the situation and contributing to a climate disaster.
- Surplus greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane capture heat from the Sun in our earth’s atmosphere and are the primary cause of Earth’s overheating.
- Other variables that contribute to the high temperatures include local meteorological conditions, as well as increased concretisation, deforestation, and changes in land use.
- According to a report, heatwaves and humid heat stress would become more intense and common in the 21st century.
Warning: The increased likelihood of using air conditioners during heat waves, raises the risk of heat-related fatalities. Read: Overheating Costing Lives Dearly Across the Globe
How it is affecting wildlife and the ecosystem?
- Dams are being built in some places of our world as a result of changing rainfall patterns, ignoring the migratory fish and mammals that go upriver each year to nest and spawn, as well as aquatic birds that rely on wetland locations for migration.
- Birds lay eggs earlier than usual, and Flora blossom earlier while Mammals emerge from hibernation earlier.
- Animal distribution is also impacted with many species shifting closer to the poles in response to rising global temperatures.
- Birds are migrating and arriving at their breeding grounds earlier, and the nesting grounds to which they are migrating are not as far away as they used to be, and in certain countries, the birds do not even leave because of the climate is right all year.
- A 50 cm rise in sea level might result in sea turtles losing their nesting sites – over 30% of Caribbean beaches are used by turtles during the breeding season and would be affected.
- The already endangered Mediterranean Monk Seals require beaches to nurse their pups, and
- A rise in sea level might destroy shallow coastal locations utilised annually by whales and dolphins, which require shallow, gentle seas to nurture their young.
Many migratory and non-migratory species are anticipated to become extinct in the near future as a result of climate change.
Humans, on the other hand, are suffering as the penance for their crimes, with the atmosphere removing moisture from the earth at a greater rate than ever before, resulting in catastrophic droughts in many nations, poorer crop output, and significant drinking water shortages, and other problems.
What will Earth be like in 2050?
- It discovered that extreme weather events like heatwaves, heavy rainfall, drought, wildfires, and ocean acidification are projected to raise the global average temperature by more than 1.5°C over the next 20 years, with the severity of these events already increasing around the world.
- The catastrophic effects on the global climate has had a direct impact on people all over the world, as heat and flooding have killed hundreds of thousands in recent years, while countless more have lost their homes and livelihoods. Read: Climate Change: What Countries will be Underwater by 2050?
Warming waters are decimating coral reefs, land-use changes are destroying habitats, and changing weather patterns are pushing an estimated one million species of plants and animals to the verge of extinction.
What can be done to help undo the worst possible future?
- According to a report, it is not too late to reverse course. If the world achieves net zero emissions and reduce global CO2 emissions by 2050, average surface temperatures are projected to stay below 2°C of warming.
- Nature can help with Broad-scale protection and restoration of forests and wetlands might remove a huge portion of the extra CO2 we’ve released into the atmosphere, while also helping to halt global biodiversity decline and securing livelihoods. Nature-based solutions are a win-win-win situation.
Human activity, without a doubt, is causing the climate problem, which has already had severe and dangerous consequences for people and the ecosystem.
