Climate change is one of the biggest problems that our planet has been facing recently. It has become a global concern over the last few decades, since it affects our life on the Earth and has various impacts on the ecosystem and ecology.
By climate change we mean a global modification of the climate over a long period of time. This phenomenon causes several effects, such as warming temperatures, changes in precipitation, rising sea level, melting ice. Also the weather has changed. Extreme events, like tornadoes, floods, and droughts, are increasingly common around the world. Climate change is nothing new in recent years. Earth’s climate has constantly been changing. However, scientists have observed unusual changes recently. This is mainly due to human beings, because, even if climate change can also have natural causes, it is largely related to human activity and greenhouse gases. The latter trap some of the sun’s radiation and prevent them from leaking back into space, causing the Earth to heat up. This natural process is known as the greenhouse effect and it is crucial to our existence. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to survive. However, since the Industrial Revolution, we’ve been adding more and more greenhouse gases into the air, trapping even more heat. Instead of keeping Earth at a warm, stable temperature, the greenhouse effect is heating the planet at a much faster rate and this is the main cause of climate change.
Climate change is a worldwide problem. Every country has to tackle it, ours too. The effects of climate change in Italy are the same that the whole world has to face: warming temperatures, extreme weather, changes in precipitation… However, Italy’s total emissions have seen a decrease of 17,4% between 1990 and 2017. This has been the result of some initiatives adopted by the Italians in recent years, such as the use of renewable energies. Despite that, the number of Italian CO₂ emissions is still very high. A big consequence of climate change in the Italian territory is the melting of alpine glaciers. They are subject to a constant decrease, becoming increasingly thin, fragile, and polluted. In recent decades about 200 glaciers have already vanished in the Italian Alps, and still many are at risk, for instance, the Adamello glacier and the Marmolada glacier. An important glacier to mention is the Forni Glacier. It is located in our Valtellina and it is particularly endangered. In just over a century it has seen almost half of its surface melt, and what was the largest valley glacier in Italy and the only one of the Himalayan type, almost no longer exists.
Climate change is a big problem that is not easy to solve. To reduce it, it’s important to implement some policies over a large territory, so that more people can make a difference. These policies must favor eco-sustainable initiatives, such as the use of renewable energies, reforestation, or waste recycling. However, each of us can commit to doing simple actions that help our environment. For example, we can reduce water waste, prefer walking instead of driving, or use more glass and less plastic. Moreover, to help in the battle against climate change, we can all follow the 3 rs of circular economy: reduce, reuse and recycle. Using this rule we can reduce our waste and even avoid unnecessary production of new items, helping to save our planet.
Virginia Masneri, Elisa Dell’Agostino,
Michele Gusmeroli, Elisa Romeri,
3BL
