We call climate change to the modification of the climate that has taken place with respect to its history on a regional and global scale. In general, these are changes of a natural order, but currently, they are associated with the human impact on the planet. It is a complex phenomenon that can only be observed and analyzed using computer simulations.
There are numerous variables that affect the climate under normal conditions. Both the water and carbon cycles and different parameters outside the planet itself (solar winds, position of the Moon) generate changes in atmospheric conditions that motivate the great complexity that characterizes the Earth's climate. This explains, in general, the great difficulties in trying to define the aspects related to climate change as precision and the need to apply computerized algorithms to find an appropriate qualification and quantification of this phenomenon.
Yes OK climate change is not synonymous with global warmingSince it responds to various causes and results in multiple consequences, we commonly find it associated with this phenomenon of an increase in the average temperature in the atmosphere and in the oceans. But in addition to warming, climate change also influences rainfall, cloud cover and many other parameters.
The different theories on this phenomenon account for variations inherent to the Sun (winds, "sun spots", meteorological phenomena typical of the central star of the solar system), orbitals (due to the gravitational influence of the Moon), meteor impact (as well as asteroids and, to a lesser extent, the growing "space debris"), continental drift, atmospheric composition, ocean currents, Earth's magnetic field, and anthropogenic (or man-made) effects as influencing factors in modifying climate. In turn, a certain group of theories proposes that, in this scenario, either the planet Earth could respond by reinforcing the effects, or by moderating them and recovering a natural balance. In any of these scenarios, most of the changes observed tend to be detrimental to people's quality of life.
Thus, in terms of human impact, it is considered that certain excessive practices such as the indiscriminate use of natural resources, the burning of fuels that produce carbon dioxide (CO2) and others have had a transcendent negative effect on the increase in temperature. The greater presence of CO2 in the atmosphere causes the so-called "greenhouse effect", by which the heat radiation that reaches the Earth is reflected to a lesser extent towards space than expected for the presence of normal concentrations of this gas. Consequently, the temperature increases, with direct consequences in different parameters, to the predominance of the thawing of the great masses of ice in the polar regions. However, this phenomenon seems more prominent in the Arctic, where the proportion of ice is increasingly reduced, but less evident in the Antarctic. Many meteorologists emphasize that the planet Venus represents a mirror of this process; More than 90% of the atmosphere of this celestial body is made up of CO2 and the greenhouse effect produces the highest temperatures in the solar system, even above those of Mercury, despite its greater proximity to the Sun.
Various world organizations and entities have been working for years to raise awareness about this phenomenon, calling on the states of the world to take responsibility for its impact and calling on citizens to carry out sustainable practices. Personalities such as the politician Al Gore (former vice president and presidential candidate in the United States) or the actor Leonardo di Caprio also joined the campaign against climate change, disseminating the investigations in this regard through all kinds of media. It is noted that the modification of the climate, in addition to disturbing the rest of the biosphere, is linked to enormous social and economic damages, since the climatic variations caused by these alterations result in flooding of coastal and populated areas, loss of crops and of livestock resources, destruction of homes and roads, extensive droughts with risk of famine, spread of pests of various kinds, increase in communicable diseases and parasites, crises related to the loss of jobs and active labor, among others. Therefore, climate change is a relevant element that must be a priority on the international agendas of all governments on Earth.
