Give two reasons to protect the Earth. What would the answer be, if we were asked to do so?
Most of us would probably say Earth is our only home, and living in an unclean and sparsely stocked home is not ideal and can also be hazardous to us.
That’s what is happening to our planet. It is becoming polluted, and its resources are dwindling at a fast rate. If we don’t take timely action, it will cease to be hospitable at some point in the future. Protecting our planet is in our collective interest.
Next, how would we answer the question – “what can each of us do to protect our planet?”
We are all different, and yet, have similarities. Our answers can be varied, but will, in all likelihood, boil down to a handful of suggestions.
For example, say, protect our world from climate change. What is climate change though, and why does Earth need protection from it?
Jargon can sometimes be a hindrance in learning and implementation. This post is for those of us who want a basic understanding of terms associated with environmental protection.
For people who know enough or more than me, can I interest you in reading my learnings on the meaning of sustainable living?
Protecting our planet – what makes the Earth special?
As I was thinking through the best approach to include the most pertinent information, it suddenly occurred to me that what better way to do this than look at what life forms need to exist and grow?
While I do believe that there must be other life forms out there – intelligent or not, at least in our solar system, Earth is the only place with a thriving population of complex beings. As far as we know – and we do not know everything.
Earth has ideal conditions to sustain life in many forms. Let us look at a few aspects to understand this better.
What makes a planet habitable?
According to NASA, “The standard definition for a habitable planet is one that can sustain life for a significant period; based on our solar system, life requires liquid water, energy, and nutrients. “
The planet needs to be within a habitable zone of a star, in our case, the sun. We need the environmental conditions, which include the atmospheric and climatic conditions on the planet, to be correct.
Most things we need to survive are provided by nature, and that too for free. Air, water, food, shelter- ok, we need to build shelters, but the resources for that are also available on Earth.
Our knowledge is based on what we know about our planet and our solar system. There might be other exoplanets that might change this view.
How do the environmental conditions of Earth support life? What happens when the natural equilibrium is disturbed? That is where we’ll head next.
What do the terms climate and climate system mean?
Climate can be defined as the generally prevailing weather conditions in a region. It includes the temperature, amount of sunshine, humidity, and precipitation an area receives.
So, it is a long-term pattern unlike the weather, which can change quite frequently. E.g., excess summer heat brings rain, which makes the weather pleasant. At least till the next day 😊.
A planet’s climatic conditions are influenced by five elements of a climatic system which are:
- The Atmosphere: is made up of gases that surround the Earth, but guess what, the greenhouse gases account for less than 1% of this. Greenhouse gases are also called trace gases. They play an important role though.
- The Hydrosphere: this is all the water bodies, especially the oceans on Earth. Why is the Earth called the blue planet? 70% is water, which is what creates the beautiful blue images you see from space.
- The Cryosphere: Think Arctic because this is all about glaciers, icebergs, and permafrost. It supports marine life and is considered to be the most stable or consistent part of the climatic system.
- The Geosphere: Sun and land make up this component. One of the ingredients that make a planet habitable is the availability of energy, which is what the sun provides.
- The Biosphere: consists of ecosystems that support living organisms on Earth.
These elements are the basis for climate classification into tropical, continental, polar, etc.
What is the connection between the parts of a climate system?
The temperature on Earth is tolerable because the atmosphere reflects some of the sun’s radiation directly into space even before it reaches Earth.
The greenhouse gases trap some heat and help Earth retain that heat. Without this natural arrangement, our planet would be either too cold or hot.
Ozone is one of the greenhouse gases. How the ozone layer protects Earth from ultraviolet radiation is through absorption. When ozone absorbs UV-B radiation, it splits into oxygen molecules.
The oceans and seas support our marine life. They also act as sinkholes for excess carbon dioxide. So do plants and trees – well, maybe not as sinkholes, but they absorb CO2.
The cryosphere also, in its own way, helps stabilize the amount of sun’s radiation that Earth retains. Ice can affect ocean currents and sea levels.
The climate dictates what we grow, eat, and wear in a particular region.
How does climate change?
Our climate system is dynamic. It does change on its own, but over time – a really long time.
It can be caused by the shifting of the Earth’s plates or volcanic activity.
If it takes hundreds or thousands of years for the climate to change, then why are the alarm bells going off?
Because our activities have quickened the pace of climate change. For example, Earth’s temperature has steadily increased each decade since 1880. That number has doubled since 1981. That’s a drastic change in a short span.
Remember that earlier, we discussed the cryosphere as being considered to be the most consistent part of the climate system. It probably no longer is.
As the Earth gets hotter, it affects climatic conditions and one of the ways it has affected our world is by melting glaciers and thawing permafrost.
How have human activities changed Earth’s environment?
Our climate-related and environmental problems are not new. Advocacy for conservation, protecting Earth from pollution, etc., started long ago.
Becoming an industrialized global community was unquestionably a necessary revolution. There were also side effects that we started experiencing in the form of:
- Deforestation
- Biodiversity loss
- Increased carbon footprint
- Pollution
- Higher greenhouse gas emissions
- Global warming
This is like the “For want of a nail” poem or proverb. We wanted more land, so we cut down trees. Now, we have “plant trees” slogans and campaigns…
What do these terms mean?
Most are self-explanatory, but let us quickly go over them.
- Deforestation: We are still cutting down trees or losing them to fires. Where forest areas are wilfully destroyed to support human needs, this is deforestation.
- Biodiversity loss: The world’s an exciting place because none of us are alike. Isn’t it? We’ve learned to tolerate and celebrate human diversity. Unfortunately, this doesn’t extend to letting other types of beings live peacefully.
Biodiversity loss also occurs naturally, but that is repairable compared to the irrevocable loss that we cause.
Think about all those news reports of wild animals entering city limits or the number of butterflies we could see in our immediate surroundings earlier and now.
Where will they go if we keep encroaching on their natural habitat to build, hunt and pollute?
- Carbon footprint: This is a measure of how much carbon dioxide we generate from all our activities for a specific timeframe. This can be measured for individuals, cities, and countries.
Our necessities and luxuries, such as flights and transportation, electricity, construction, etc., are all energy-intensive.
A big percentage of this energy comes from burning fossil fuels and this is why we have targets for net zero emissions that include utilizing renewable energy sources.
- Pollution: Needs no explanation. I, for one, am fully supportive of hybrid work models. A case in point is the decrease in pollution levels during the pandemic.
- Greenhouse gas emissions: We’ve touched upon this when we looked at carbon footprint. Too much of anything is bad. This is the case for CO2 and other gases such as methane, nitrous oxide, etc.
If we want to avoid ozone depletion, keeping our fans and AC units from running overtime, then let’s think of ways to reduce those emissions.
- Global warming: This is the cumulative result of the points we reviewed earlier. Earth as a whole has slowly been getting warmer.
Our planet’s ideal conditions to sustain life won’t remain so if we don’t work towards keeping the increase in temperature to 1.5-2 degrees in the near future.
Frequently asked questions
1. What is called greenhouse gas?
Just like a greenhouse provides plants with a controlled environment where they are protected from excess cold or heat, greenhouse gases absorb the sun’s harmful UV radiation and protect Earth. These gases are found in Earth’s atmosphere and consist of methane, water vapor, CO2, ozone, CFCs & HFCs, and nitrous oxide.
2. Who first used the term global warming?
Although there seem to be earlier references to global warming, it is widely accepted that Scientist Wallace Broecker first used this term in his scientific paper in 1975.
3. Are global warming and climate change interchangeable?
They are not synonyms, but there is a connection. Climate change refers to changes to long-term weather conditions. It need not be global, but has affected much of the globe so in that sense, it is a global concern. The Earth’s surface temperature is rising at a worrying rate. This is global warming.
Protecting our planet starts with you
The first step to saving our amazing planet is caring enough to understand how what we do affects our environment.
There’s enough and more advice from experts on what steps to take after that. Ultimately, it comes down to each one of us doing what we can, given our limitations, at first.
We can then progress to thinking about how to overcome those constraints or limitations to do more. This is no different from what we experience and do in any facet of our lives.