"2035" 🌎 | La Verdad sobre el CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO (causas y consecuencias)

Summary

This script highlights the delicate balance of Earth's ecosystems, emphasizing the natural processes that have sustained life for billions of years. It explores the anthropogenic causes of climate change, focusing on the intensification of the greenhouse effect, particularly due to the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrial activity. The consequences of this disruption include global warming, rising sea levels, acidifying oceans, and the extinction of species. The script urges immediate action to mitigate further damage, stressing that the impact of climate change is already upon us, affecting ecosystems and human societies alike.

Takeaways

• 😀 The Earth is 4.543 billion years old, and its natural balance is increasingly being disrupted by human activity.
• 🌍 The human species appeared just before midnight on the 31st of December in the Earth's history, with the Industrial Revolution occurring in the final second.
• 🔥 The global average temperature has risen by 1°C since the Industrial Revolution, a seemingly small change with huge consequences like extreme weather events and rising sea levels.
• 💨 The greenhouse effect is a natural process that helps regulate Earth's temperature, but human activity has intensified it, leading to global warming.
• 🌡️ Human actions, especially burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrial activities, have significantly increased greenhouse gases like CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere.
• 🌳 Deforestation exacerbates climate change by reducing the Earth's ability to absorb CO2, while the burning of forests releases even more carbon into the atmosphere.
• 💧 Climate change is causing ocean acidification, melting ice caps, and rising sea levels, threatening ecosystems and human populations living in coastal areas.
• 🐾 The extinction of species is escalating, with an estimated 18,000 to 55,000 species going extinct each year due to climate disruptions.
• 🌪️ The intensification of extreme weather events like hurricanes, droughts, and heatwaves is directly linked to climate change, with their frequency and severity expected to increase.
• 🥕 Climate change is threatening food security, particularly for vulnerable populations in developing countries, and could lead to widespread famine and increased costs of goods.
• 🦠 The spread of infectious diseases like malaria and dengue is accelerating due to climate change, as warmer temperatures make it easier for diseases to thrive in previously unaffected regions.

Q & A

What is the Earth's age and how does it relate to human history?

The Earth is 4.543 billion years old. If we scale this to a single year, humans would have appeared only at 11:30 PM on December 31st, with the Industrial Revolution occurring just one second before midnight.

What is the 'greenhouse effect' and why is it important for life on Earth?

The greenhouse effect is a natural process where gases in the Earth's atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide, trap heat from the Sun, maintaining a stable and warm temperature on Earth's surface, which is essential for life.

Why has the greenhouse effect gained a negative reputation?

While the greenhouse effect is a natural and essential process, its intensification due to human activities, such as burning fossil fuels, is contributing to global warming, which has harmful environmental impacts.

How has human activity intensified the greenhouse effect?

Human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, as well as deforestation, agriculture, and industrial processes, have significantly increased the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, intensifying the greenhouse effect and leading to global warming.

What are the main greenhouse gases responsible for global warming?

The main greenhouse gases contributing to global warming are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), water vapor, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), each playing different roles in trapping heat in the atmosphere.

What is the role of deforestation in climate change?

Deforestation exacerbates climate change by reducing the number of trees that can absorb CO2, thus increasing CO2 levels in the atmosphere. Additionally, burning trees releases even more CO2.

How do agricultural activities contribute to climate change?

Agricultural activities contribute to climate change through the emission of nitrous oxide, particularly from fertilizer use, and by driving deforestation. Additionally, livestock farming is a major source of methane emissions.

What are the consequences of the warming oceans due to global warming?

Warming oceans are leading to the melting of polar ice, which raises sea levels. They also absorb more CO2, increasing ocean acidity, which harms marine life and disrupts ecosystems.

What is the potential impact of global warming on sea levels and coastal populations?

The rising sea levels due to the melting of polar ice are causing coastal flooding. By 2050, more than 200,000 people could live in areas prone to constant flooding, and by 2100, the number of affected people could rise to 300 million.

How does the increase in global temperatures affect human health?

Rising temperatures accelerate the spread of diseases like malaria and dengue, even in areas where they were previously not common. Moreover, extreme weather events such as heatwaves increase the risk of heat-related illnesses.