I remember watching “An Inconvenient Truth”for the first time at home with my family when it first came out. I was probably 15 at the time and had a passion for animals, outdoors, and nature. In the documentary, Al Gore, went on to explain how we were on the cusp of a drastic change in the world with ramifications not yet fully understood, but understood enough to know that there would be some harsh changes. I remember thinking of the plants and animals that brought me so much joy and how many of them could be lost to this looming threat. I recall the fear the film imposed, the doom and gloom type attitude which was later captured in the movie “The Day After Tomorrow”. More than the concern and fear for the change the world would experience, I felt a burning passion to do something about it. In the years since I have majored in Geography and taught both Geography and Environmental Science at high school for 7 years. I am no expert, no specialist, but a regular person who wants to live in a world where individuals can shape its outcome. So, what is Climate Change, what are greenhouse gases, and how will it all impact us? Most of all, how can we as individuals change our fate from doom and gloom, to something worth striving for?
What is Climate Change and how do we know it is caused by humans?
Climate change refers to the changing and warming of the Earth’s average temperature and climates as a result of human impacts going back as far as the industrial revolution. Many climate change critics will point to historical changes of climate and CO2 production as a normal cycle within the Earth’s history. They are correct in that we have reached comparable levels in the past, but what has changed is the speed at which the climate CO2 is being spewed into our atmosphere. Looking at the graph, you can see a comparable CO2 increase happened around 200 million years ago, but this was spread over approximately 20 millions years. Compared to now, the increase has happened in around 300 years. The change? Humans, starting with the industrial revolution and the use of fossil fuels and greenhouse gases in general.
What are Greenhouse Gases and how do they affect the climate?
My favourite metaphor that I have used with my students over the years is to treat greenhouse gases as a sweater or a blanket. Greenhouse gases are a critical part of making Earth livable and are a natural part of the Earth’s regular cycles. Methane, Water, and most famously Carbon Dioxide, are some of the most common and impactful greenhouse gases. When emitted or cycled into the atmosphere, it acts almost like a blanket for the Earth by allowing heat to pass through the atmosphere, but also trapping heat within. Greenhouse gases are critical for keeping the Earth warm and livable, so what is the problem? Imagine wearing a sweater on a cool fall day, and the comfortable cozy feeling it brings. Now, on the same day, add another layer, or even a coat; less comfortable, a little too warm. This is what is happening now with greenhouse gases, as we have essentially added another sweater to the Earth, making it too warm by trapping too much heat. But, why does this matter?
What are the impacts of Climate Change?
The impacts of climate change are difficult to fully comprehend in a similar idea of ‘the butterfly effect’, and unknown consequences. That said, we can absolutely predict and already see some of the most severe impacts of climate change already in effect.
- Higher temperatures – With higher temperatures, issues like drought, heat stroke, and lack of available water will become more common, thus burdening health care systems. Not only that, but energy costs will increase as air conditioning will be needed at a higher demand.
- Sea Level Rise – With warmer temperatures, the polar ice caps are melting, thus raising sea levels. This puts coastal cities at risk or flooding due their low elevation (New Orleans being a famous example). With less overall land available, this will cause displacement of the people in the flooder areas, which can cause an increase in housing prices elsewhere. Most of the world relies on coastal areas and floodplains of rivers for growing food, and so this also has an impact of reducing the world’s overall food availability (and thereby increasing the cost of food).
- Bigger Storms – Warm waters are the essential conditions for big storms, with hurricanes (Typhoons or Cyclones) being the biggest. It is clear that due to climate change, the frequency and severity of hurricanes will increase. With bigger storms brings bigger storm surges, which low lying coastal cities will now be at even more risk of. It also brings flooding and disease, and the cost of millions of dollars.
- Desertification and Loss of Food – With higher temperatures, deserts are growing world wide as soil becomes too dry to hold nutrients. Countries like China and those around the Sahara have tried to implement tree walls to halt the desert’s growth with some success. But the fact is that world wide droughts are becoming more common and crops of food are becoming harder to grow. As the world’s population continues to increase, the available land decreases (due to sea level rise and growing deserts), and the reliability of crops decreases, the world will struggle to produce the food needed to survive. The cost of food, which we have already seen go up, will only continue to rise.
- Loss of Biodiversity and Ecosystems – With temperatures rising faster than they ever had in recorded history, the delicate balance of ecosystems is being disrupted and many animals and plants are dying off as they try to adapt. That, combined with humans continuing to encroach on their natural habits hurts the planet overall. Destroying forests removes the world’s largest carbon sink, something which drastically reduces the impacts of climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide. Further, biodiversity loss affects the overall food chain, which eventually affects food availability (once again making food more costly).
- Money – Whether increased costs in air conditioning, rising sea levels and displacement, the costs of reparations from storms, the ever rising costs of food, or the unknown costs of breaking the ecosystem, climate change already is, and will be even more expensive going forward.
What can we do?
We’ve come to the doom and gloom feeling, the one where we feel the overwhelming weight of the collective decisions of humanity. But, hold on, we as individuals have power and can (and already are) make change. So what can we do?
- Use less energy or renewable – Whether its energy saving appliances, switching to hybrid or electric cars, walking or biking when you can, or using less ac, if we all reduced our energy output a little, it would have a big impact on the greenhouse gases emitted. If you are able to implement the use of solar panels, then do it!
- Buy local – Buying local food not only helps your local economy, but reduces the impact of transportation costs of food. A big solution to our current crisis is to live a local life, and helping your neighbours while helping the planet has a nice feel to it.
- Buy consciously, and use your vote and voice – Be aware of companies that are actually sustainable, as opposed to simply greenwashing their image. Support people and politicians who are aware of, and implement sustainable policies and practices.
- Grow your own produce – Growing your own food makes you your own sustainable engine. Turning a patch of green grass into your own food not only saves on the grocery bill and is in effect ‘buying local’, but also helps increase our global carbon sink by adding more plants.
- Be sustainable and promote education – Being sustainable is the be all and end all of solving our current climate crisis. It entails making conscious, responsible choices in our daily life that help yourself, community, and the planet.
I am a firm believer that people are good. I feel that once they are aware of an issue and all of its sides, they will do the right thing, and so education is the first step. These articles will help us find ways to understand how we can take control of our own destiny by making our lives more sustainable, and a lot of them I will be exploring in depth for the first time as well. I look forward to this learning experience, I hope you are too!
Works Cited
Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. “Hurricanes and Climate Change.” Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, 2020, www.c2es.org/content/hurricanes-and-climate-change/. Accessed 17 May 2026.
Fradella, Allyson. “Behind the Numbers: What’s Causing Growth in Food Prices.” Statistics Canada, 16 Nov. 2022, www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/62f0014m/62f0014m2022014-eng.htm. Accessed 17 May 2026.
“Greenhouse Effect – Climate in Arts and History.” Climate in Arts and History, 27 June 2024, www.science.smith.edu/climatelit/greenhouse-effect/. Accessed 16 May 2026.Mulhern, Owen. “A 4.5 Billion-Year History of CO2 in Our Atmosphere.” Earth.org – Past | Present | Future, Earth.org, 12 Aug. 2020, earth.org/data_visualization/a-brief-history-of-co2/. Accessed 16 May 2026.