Changement climatique : le dépassement, les enjeux pour l'humanité

Climate change: overshoot, challenges for humanity

Introduction

Climate change has devastating effects, and this no longer needs to be proven.

Ecosystems are disrupted, forests burn more easily, glaciers melt.

Greenhouse gases are responsible for most of its disastrous consequences. But let's not demonize this effect which also causes... life.

Indeed, without this greenhouse effect, the average temperature of the earth would be -18°C instead of +14°C.

The problem is the gradual accumulation of heat that is causing trouble in every country on earth.

What is the greenhouse effect?

To put it simply, the earth receives energy from the sun every moment, a first part bounces against the atmosphere, a second part bounces against the earth and comes out of the atmosphere while a third part bounces against the earth, but does not come out of the atmosphere. This is what increases the average temperature.

Historical

Climate information studied between the 18th century and the 19th century shows that the temperature has hardly increased in 100 years. 

However, since the 19th century, humans have dramatically increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This leads to a climatic imbalance.

Thus, the first moments of global warming are correlated with the first industrial revolution.

This increase has been measured. The decade from 2011-2020 was 0.95 to 1.2°C warmer than the period from 1850 to 1900.

The researchers determined that the temperature increases by 0.2°C every decade.

 

Overtaking

Overshoot is a term that defines the day of the year on which humans have consumed all the resources that the earth produces over a year.

Which means that humans consume more than they produce.

According to several studies, the main cause (55%) is due to the “unsustainable” agricultural and food system.

In 2022, the overshoot day was July 28, we would currently need 1.75 earth to sustain ourselves.

 

The challenges for humanity

In 2014 one of the reports published by the IPCC, shows visible changes in the climate:

The earth's average temperature has increased by 0.74°C since the 20th century.

The number of summer days has increased in France.

Imbalance of ecosystems, the temperature changes, nature changes and species must adapt.

The surface waters of the oceans have become more acidic. (a ph of 8.25 to 8.14)

The sea level has risen, between 1993 and 2010, it rose by 3.2 mm per year.
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