Understanding climate change

Climate change is a global issue that affects every aspect of life and work, regardless of location, industry or role. Their consequences will become even more intense and unpredictable in the future. From more frequent fires and hurricanes to stronger heat waves and floods to rising sea levels and changes in the oceans, these effects are only expected to intensify in the coming decades.

"CLIMATE CHANGE IN BRIEF"

Climate change refers to long-term changes in temperature and weather. Although some climate change is natural, most of it is caused by human activity.

The consequences of climate change include:

– Rising average global temperatures

– Extreme weather events, including storms, heat waves and temperature fluctuations

– Rising sea levels causing flooding

Solving climate change is extremely challenging due to its global nature and long time horizon. In order to solve this problem, international cooperation and patience are essential, as the results can take decades.

While sustainability is often seen as an isolated initiative at the level of individual companies, climate change affects all aspects of business and should be a key element in every organization's strategy.

First of all, it is important to understand the basic natural phenomena of the Earth and its atmosphere. Here are three key concepts.

1. Greenhouse effect

The greenhouse effect is a natural phenomenon that keeps the Earth habitable.

"Earth receives energy from solar radiation," v. Because the Sun is very hot, its radiation has a short wavelength and high frequency, which means it is mostly in the visible spectrum.

When visible solar radiation hits the Earth's surface, some is reflected back into the atmosphere, but most is absorbed. This causes the earth's surface to heat up, which then radiates its own heat back into the atmosphere in the form of infrared radiation. Due to its low frequency, it is easily absorbed by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The four naturally occurring greenhouse gases are:

– Carbon dioxide (CO₂)

– Methane (CH₄)

– Nitrous oxide (N₂O)

– Water vapor (H₂O)

The heat trapped by greenhouse gases is radiated back to the Earth's surface, raising its temperature and ensuring that it remains warm enough to support life – much like a greenhouse, it creates conditions for plants to grow even at lower outside temperatures.

2. Carbon cycle

Carbon is a naturally occurring element that is the basis of all life on Earth. The carbon cycle describes the process of carbon movement between the Earth's surface and the atmosphere.

Any process that releases carbon is referred to as a carbon source, while any process that absorbs it is known as a carbon sink. This relationship between sources and sinks exists for all greenhouse gases and is important for maintaining natural cycles.

"Carbon atoms are constantly moving between organisms and the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide,"

One example of the carbon cycle is the interaction between respiration, photosynthesis and decomposition. When you eat food, your body gets the energy it needs - this is an example of how a carbon sink works. When you exhale, you release carbon dioxide (CO₂) back into the atmosphere, making the breathing process a source of carbon.

Plants, which need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere and act as carbon sinks. After the death of the plant, the carbon it used for its growth is released again in the form of carbon dioxide and can be absorbed by other plants. The cycle is completed when you consume plants or other foods and exhale the carbon back into the environment.

3. Water cycle

The third phenomenon, the water cycle, is critical to maintaining stable temperature, weather, and available water.

"Water is constantly moving through the Earth's land, atmosphere, and oceans, "It evaporates from the surface, condenses to form clouds, and returns to the surface as precipitation. This circular process is called the water cycle.

The water cycle has three phases:

• Evaporation: Water heats up and turns into water vapor (H 2 O) 2 — a greenhouse gas — and rises into the atmosphere.
• Condensation: When water vapor enters the atmosphere, it condenses to form clouds.
• Precipitation: When clouds in the atmosphere become too dense, water is released back to Earth in liquid or solid form – more commonly known as rain, snow, sleet or hail.

If the precipitates are solid, they eventually melt into liquid water and the cycle begins again.

WHAT CAUSES CLIMATE CHANGE?

All three described phenomena depend on the maintenance of balance - the Earth's temperature, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and the amount of water in circulation - with the help of naturally occurring sources.

Human activity has disrupted these processes and thereby disrupted the Earth's regulatory systems.

"Scientists agree that human activity is now the primary cause of climate change and is causing the planet to warm much faster than at any time in the past," Toffel says in the course. "Anthropogenic climate change—or human-caused climate change—began when people began cutting down forests to make land for agriculture and other forms of development, building cities, paving roads, and burning fossil fuels for energy."

Human activity releases a significant amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, creating an imbalance between sources and sinks. This means that too many greenhouse gases are released for nature to absorb.

Some of the ways that people – and especially businesses – generate excessive amounts of greenhouse gases include:

– Combustion of fossil fuels to produce electricity

– Production of cement, steel and iron for the construction industry

– Waste management such as landfills and waste incinerators

– Transport including cars, trucks, planes, trains and ships

– Land clearing for agriculture

– Livestock breeding

Human activity has also created a new type of greenhouse gas – fluorinated gases, which are often used in industrial processes such as refrigeration and air conditioning.

When excessive amounts of greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere, the greenhouse effect causes the Earth to overheat instead of naturally self-regulating to an optimal temperature.

The greenhouse gas most responsible for climate change is carbon dioxide (CO₂). Excess CO₂ not only disrupts the regulation of the greenhouse effect, but also breaks the carbon cycle.

Climate change, which raises the Earth's average temperature, also disrupts the water cycle by increasing evaporation, putting more water vapor into the atmosphere and removing it from water bodies and soil – which can cause extreme precipitation, heat and temperature swings.

Humans are altering these flows in ways that significantly increase the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This is already affecting the climate and is why businesses and society as a whole should be seriously concerned. As businesses are the main source of excess greenhouse gas production, it is imperative that you work to mitigate the impact of climate change in your organization and adapt to the damage already done.

Fortunately, as a business leader you have a unique opportunity to significantly influence this pressing issue.

Societies have been an amazing engine of social change throughout modern history. They regularly develop technological innovations to produce goods and services that improve people's lives. Today, climate change is one of the biggest global societal challenges. Companies will have to play an active role if we are to successfully face the challenges of climate change as a society.

Education is the first step to effect change in the face of global challenges. Climate change education can prepare you not only to adapt to a changing business environment, but also to innovate and work towards a better future. (Co2AI)