appearance by Brooke Hinton.
It’s an extremely hot girl summer for everyone this year— because the Earth’s global temperature is rising annually, and we are responsible. That’s the alarming verdict from numerous 2019 reports about climate change, including the United Nations paper, “Climate Change and Land” which found that how we use — or abuse — the land is one of the biggest contributors to global warming.
Whether it’s the scarcity of food we love or the threat to our coral reefs or simply unbearable heat , climate change is real, and we can’t afford to ignore it.
The UN’s land report cited agriculture and the overuse of farmland as some of the biggest culprits when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions. This, of course, only accelerates deforestation and the expansion of the earth’s deserts. All of which contribute to the skyrocketing temperatures.
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Scientists have warned that if global temperatures reach even 1.5°C above the threshold, existing farmland may not be able to support large human civilizations. This would in turn lead to the destabilization of communities, famine and an increase in migration across the world as people move to find food and shelter.
While this might all sound overwhelming and catastrophic, there is hope.
Research published in July in Science magazine showed that planting a trillion trees could mitigate the effects of global warming; trees remove harmful gases like carbon monoxide from the atmosphere, storing it in their trunks and branches.
But so much more must be done. If we are to make any positive impact on reducing climate change, we need to get to work. And it begins with understanding all the terminology: climate change, greenhouse gases and global warming are big concepts. Our new explainer offers a step-by-step guide — even better, it’s packed with tips on actions to take right now. Watch now.