Have you noticed warmer winters? Drier summers? More mosquitos in your yard?
Climate change is having dramatic impacts on life on earth, both on land and in the sea. We are seeing increases in ocean acidification that are leading to collapses in the shellfish industry and widespread coral bleaching. We are seeing warmer average temperatures that are melting glaciers, changing ocean currents, and creating blooms in mosquito and tick populations. We are seeing increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events that are leading to the loss of lives and homes, and fueling a refugee crisis that is taxing countries all over the world.
It is happening. It is serious.
And it is caused by our activities.
Along Greenland’s western coast, a small field of glaciers surrounds Baffin Bay. Photo credit: USGS / unsplash.com
But it’s not too late to save our planet, if we act today.
Climate change is powered by increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, mostly methane and CO2, that are emitted when we burn fossil fuels and destroy natural habitats. Every time we choose to use renewable energy, to ride our bicycle, to eat a plant-based meal, or protect wild spaces, we are having a positive impact on the climate crisis.
You have a lot of power to make a difference.
Climate change protest in San Francisco, United States. Photo credit: Li-An Lim / unsplash.com
THE DATA
Most people think that climate change will harm Americans, but they don’t think it will happen to them.
Percentage of adults per county who think …
County and district-level opinion data are based on survey responses from more than 24,000 American adults (age 18 and older) collected between 2008 and 2019. Source: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
Effects of warming on animals
For animals, there are 3 main strategies to cope with climate change:
Move
The most intuitive strategy for coping with climate change is to move – literally, travel northwards in latitude or upwards in elevation to chase your preferred climate conditions. Here in Missouri, the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) has been expanding northward into the state for almost 40 years, in ways biologists never thought possible. Once restricted to the south, these armadillos now live in Illinois, Kansas, Indiana, and Missouri – largely due to warmer winter temperatures.
Photo credit: Vlad Lazarenko / Wikimedia Commons
Adapt
Moving isn’t always an option, for a variety of ecological and logistical reasons. Assuming a species has enough time and flexibility, the next best strategy is to adapt – i.e. change something about your behavior to live with the new climate conditions. For example, songbirds across the U.S. are laying their eggs earlier (2 weeks earlier, on average) to keep up with faster snowmelt and earlier spring arrivals, which bring bugs and grubs to eat.
A northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) feeds her chick. Photo credit: Beverly Moseley (USDA NRCS Texas) / Wikimedia Commons
Go extinct
Tragically, lots of species can neither move nor adapt quickly enough to cope with climate change and, ultimately, decline into extinction. In 2019, the IPBES Global Biodiversity Assessment estimated that up to a million species are currently threatened with extinction, many within decades. The study estimated that 47% of land mammals and 23% of birds have already been negatively impacted by climate change.
In 2016, the Bramble Cay melomys (Melomys rubicola), the Great Barrier Reef’s only endemic mammal, became the first to go extinct because of human-caused sea level rise. Photo credit: Cameron De Jong / Geographical magazine
your actions matter!
What you can do to help stop climate change
Climate change is a global problem, with no single, magic solution. But there is a LOT you can do in your day-to-day life to reduce your dependence on fossil fuels and limit greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It’s easy to get creative about solutions once you’re in the habit of thinking about it!
Have two or fewer children.
Imagine, if you can, the amount of food, clothing, energy, and waste you have used and generated in your lifetime! It’s completely mind-blowing the amount of resources we require as human beings. By far, the most powerful way to fight climate change is to limit how many extra humans you add to the 9 billion on this planet.
Photo credit: Nikola Saliba / Unsplash.com
Eat less meat.
Meat is an incredibly carbon-intensive product because of the energy it takes to feed, kill, package, and ship animals around the world. Thus, eating less meat has proven an easy and effective way to make a big difference for climate change. Start with a meat-free meal, then try a meat-free day, and keep increasing according to your health and nutritional needs. You don’t have to give up meat entirely to make a huge difference, for the climate and your health!
Photo credit: FreeTo Use Sounds / Unsplash.com
Drive as little as possible.
St. Louis offers a variety of transportation options that can help us cut down on burning gasoline – take the Metrolink, ride your bicycle, carpool with friends, and walk when you can. Try to build routines that help you avoid driving by living close to your work, your kids’ schools, and the grocery store. Not only will you help fight climate change, but fewer cars on the road reduces air pollution, water pollution, and noise pollution in your city!
Photo credit: Matthew Black / Wikimedia Commons
borrow, repair, & buy used
All new products require energy and raw materials, both of which contribute to climate change. One fun way to fight climate change is to get creative with your consumption – buy second-hand and used items, borrow things you need from friends, repair stuff that breaks, instead of buying again. Our consumption of stuff is linked to environmental problems far beyond climate change – plastics in the ocean, trash on our streets, habitat loss and degradation, resource extraction, and more. Enjoy the thrill of thrifting while doing good for the planet.
Photo credit: Becca McHaffie / Unsplash.com