Everyone knows that the climate of the world throughout the existence of the planet Earth has changed all the time. Periods of tropics and subtropics were replaced by global icing, and vice versa. How did this happen and what awaits all of us, our children and grandchildren in the foreseeable future?
How the climate of the countries of the world changed in the 19th and 20th centuries
Based on early 19th century English engravings, it is clear that freezing of the Thames in the winter was common at the time, suggesting freezing winters in Europe. Already at the beginning of the 20th century, the world started talking about warming as a fait accompli. The volume of Arctic ice has decreased by almost 10% compared to the 19th century. By the 20-30s of this century, the average temperature in Spitsbergen had risen by almost 5 degrees, as a result of which agriculture appeared on the island, and the Barents and Greenland Seas became available for navigation. According to various sources, in the twentieth century the world's climate became the warmest in the last millennium. And besides, due to climate change over the past 20-30 years, various natural disasters such as landslides, tsunamis, hurricanes and floods have become almost four times more frequent.
Reason for changeclimate
Until now, no one can name with absolute certainty the causes of warming and global climate change on the planet, but most scientists still tend to think that one of the main reasons is man and his life. Of course, there are many other reasons, such as solar activity, astronomical factors, etc. But earlier, the change in the average annual temperature has changed over thousands of years. And due to the ever-increasing activity of mankind, a century, or even several decades, is enough for the world's climate to change.
What can we expect in the future
To predict what the world's future climate will be like, scientists build computer models that simulate all the changes that might occur. Based on the results of these simulations, we can conclude that if the intensity of the impact of human activity on nature does not change, then by the end of this century, the average annual temperature will rise by 4 degrees Celsius compared to the 19th century. If, however, the influence of man on nature continues to increase, by the end of the 22nd century, the difference in average temperature compared to the 19th century may already be 7 degrees. Such a serious rise in temperature looks ominous.
Some parts of the globe will become completely unsuitable for human life, and the best climate in the world will be in the territory of modern Antarctica or at the North Pole. Take for comparison the time of the lastglaciation that took place 20,000 years ago. Then the average temperature on earth was only 4 degrees lower than now, and as a result, the entire territory of present-day Canada, all the British Isles and most of Europe were covered with ice.
How to avoid the devastating effects of warming
As mentioned above, one of the main reasons for the coming warming is the impact of human activity on nature. It is necessary to minimize this impact, namely, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. This can be done at the state level, for example, by increasing the tax per ton of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. There is an even more efficient way to solve this problem. These are financial and legislative incentives for organizations involved in the development and use of alternative energy sources, as well as restrictions on the construction of thermal and electric power plants that run on coal, gas or oil waste. The future belongs to alternative energy sources and it is quite possible to avoid global climate change.
