Global warming threatens our daily lives with rising sea levels, extreme weather, ecosystem disruption, and more. What can individuals and businesses do about these issues? Let’s find out together and identify concrete actions we can take toward a sustainable future.
Twenty-four years into the 21st century, interest in new living spaces and frontiers for humans is growing, as advances in science and technology have made possible the realization of what were once thought of as imaginary spaces, such as undersea cities and super-Earths. This may be a natural consequence of the advancement of science and technology, but a closer cause may be the need for new living spaces. In other words, the current Earth has been devastated more than in the past, and the research and phenomena of whether the Earth can survive in the future have been highlighted, so we may be eager to find a frontier. When talking about the current state of the planet, the word “global warming” is always mentioned. With the rapid industrialization that began in the 20th century, many scientists and environmental organizations began to say that the earth was getting hotter, and since the beginning of the 21st century, it has become one of the hottest topics of the 21st century, as many people have been exposed to news about global warming through various programs, newspapers, magazines, etc. Former U.S. Vice President and environmentalist Al Gore once said, “A frog that suddenly jumps into hot water immediately feels the heat and jumps out, but a frog that gradually enters boiling water does not feel the heat at first and cannot escape until the water is already at boiling temperature.” This is an analogy for the current state of humanity living on Earth. In response to this, various countries have announced joint policies and national policies, and efforts have been made to naturally draw the attention of the common people. However, despite this, policies are policies, and there are those who remain bystanders, so in this article, we will explain exactly what climate warming is, how the earth has been changing due to climate warming, the causes, and the problems that may arise, and what measures and solutions can be taken to solve these problems.
Global warming refers to the “global increase in the temperature of the oceans and near-surface air since the late 19th century”. We usually think of global warming as a long-term increase in near-surface temperatures, but on closer inspection, the late 19th century is added because it’s necessary to mention the point at which temperatures began to rise rapidly. The next thing is that global warming is not just about the temperature near the surface, so we need to mention the rising temperature of the oceans (water), which covers 70% of the planet, so all of these additions are correct.
Let’s take a look at how the planet has changed since the warming began. From 1906 to 2005, the global average surface temperature increased by about 0.74°C. The rate of warming during the last half of this period accounted for more than half of the total rate, meaning that the average temperature over the last 50 years has increased by 0.13°C per decade, about twice as much as the rate of increase over the last hundred years (0.07°C/10 years). This may explain why the following phenomena are being observed at a faster rate and with greater frequency than ever before.
The current warming record has been observed by many independent scientific groups. Examples include sea level rise due to the thermal expansion of water, widespread liquefaction of snow and ice, increased enthalpy of the oceans, increased relative humidity, and an increase in flowering plant species due to the onset of spring in biological seasons. It is highly unlikely that these events would have occurred at the same time by chance, which means that their central cause is climate warming. In the case of Uriana, we’ve been seeing a lot of extreme weather events lately. One minute it’s sunny, the next it’s scorching hot, and then the clouds roll in, dumping rain, and then the sun comes back out like never before. In addition, the rainy season is longer than usual, causing rivers to swell and the temperature of the sea to drop abnormally. In terms of climate, Korea used to have a four-season climate with a good mix of warm and cold zones, but due to global warming, the average temperature has been increasing and is changing to a subtropical climate. A representative phenomenon that has occurred in Korea due to this subtropical climate change is squall precipitation. Scorching precipitation is a phenomenon that occurs during the rainy season when heavy rain falls one day and the sun shines the next.
So why is global warming causing this? The exact cause of warming is still unknown, but greenhouse gases are believed to be the main culprit. Carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor in the atmosphere due to human activities are the main greenhouse gases. In particular, the compounds of chlorine, fluorine, carbon, and hydrogen that we have started to use in modern times are known to have a significant greenhouse effect. It’s also hypothesized that humanity’s destruction of forests and trees contributes to warming. It is believed that with fewer trees, nature is unable to absorb the carbon dioxide in the air, and the amount of carbon dioxide continues to increase. It is also theorized that recent natural mass erosion of limestone has produced large amounts of carbon dioxide. Other hypotheses include that solar radiation may be contributing to the increase in temperature, and that the ozone layer may be declining, but the most prominent and influential hypothesis is the greenhouse effect. Warming causes the northern hemisphere to warm faster than the southern hemisphere, and the albedo effect is a possible explanation. Albedo is a measure of reflectivity, which is the total amount of light that passes through divided by the intensity of the light projected, so the albedo effect refers to the different climate changes that occur depending on this reflectivity. In the southern hemisphere, the ice albedo effect causes it to be lower due to extensive snow and ocean coverage. The question that arises, however, is that the Northern Hemisphere is much more industrialized than the Southern Hemisphere, and therefore produces more greenhouse gases, so why shouldn’t it be affected? This is because the main greenhouse gases circulate and mix in both hemispheres, so they don’t contribute to the difference in warming between the two hemispheres.
Let’s look at the problems that arise from the above causes. The problem of global warming is too vast to be analyzed in a simple way. First of all, it concerns climate and sea level rise. If temperatures rise by about 3°C in 2040, the climate zones will shift poleward at a rate of 10 kilometers per year. This will change rainfall and snowfall patterns and cause seasonal shifts, melting glaciers at the poles and expanding deserts at the equator. It will also weaken the Earth’s atmospheric circulation and reduce the temperature difference between the poles and the equator. Warmer temperatures will melt glaciers in the Arctic and Antarctic, causing sea levels to rise. For a 3°C increase in temperature, most of the glaciers in the Arctic will melt into floating icebergs with no significant effect on sea levels, but Antarctica’s continental glaciers are expected to melt and raise sea levels by about 7 meters. While only about 3% of each continent’s coastline is actually underwater, the catastrophe could be devastating, given that most of the world’s largest cities are located along the coast, and about a third of humanity lives in coastal areas. On the other hand, warming can affect human health and even industries. Rising temperatures could lead to more natural disasters, such as powerful storms like typhoons and tornadoes, which cause a lot of damage when they hit land. Conversely, we may see more deaths and fainting due to heat stroke in the wilderness due to the ongoing heat wave. In addition to this, warming will lead to changes in weather patterns, bringing the possibility of more frequent extreme weather events than we have experienced to date.
What are some of the efforts being made to prevent further acceleration of warming? There are efforts to stop global warming from accelerating by enacting international agreements. One example is the Kyoto Protocol. In 2007, the Bali Climate Conference, held on the Indonesian island of Bali, warned that without a clear goal to stop climate change, the world would face rising sea levels, melting glaciers, droughts, and refugee migrations due to climate change, and called for aggressive efforts through international agreements. However, some countries have been slow to sign on to international agreements to combat global warming, which has been criticized by participating countries and environmental organizations. The United States and China are the most prominent examples. China has one of the world’s highest rates of carbon dioxide emissions due to coal mining, rapid deforestation, and industrial development, but it is not a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol climate change agreement. Experts believe that these countries’ participation will be key to combating global warming.
What can individuals do to help? First, conserve energy and resources. These include conserving energy and electricity for heating and cooling at home and at work, conserving water, avoiding idling, using public transportation, carpooling, and joining the 10 car rule. Second, switching consumption patterns to environmentally friendly products. For products with the same function, it is best to choose products with a lower environmental footprint, such as those that are more energy efficient or produce less waste. If such a consumption pattern is established, producers will also consider consumption tendencies when producing products, and in the long run, the economic structure itself will become more environmentally friendly. Third, recycle waste. Methane, one of the greenhouse gases, is mainly generated in the process of landfill disposal, and if recycling is promoted, the amount of methane generated will decrease as the amount of waste brought to landfills will decrease. In addition, the amount of incineration will decrease, which will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions generated during the incineration process.
There are other efforts that can be made at the corporate level. First, you should work on efficiently managing your existing facilities. Eliminating energy waste in existing facilities can save a significant amount of energy. This requires incentives for energy managers and a company-wide energy reduction effort. Second, consider replacing energy-using facilities and processes with more energy-efficient ones. In the future, when GHG emission regulations for each company are implemented, the operating costs of less efficient facilities will increase, while the utility of investing in high-efficiency facilities will increase. This should be fully considered when replacing energy facilities. Third, investment in energy-saving and GHG-reducing technologies should be increased. However, technologies do not accumulate in a short period of time, so it is necessary to start developing them now based on a long-term investment plan.
So far, we have discussed the changes caused by global warming, the problems that arise from them, their causes, and our attitudes to deal with them. The warming we are experiencing in the 21st century will be much stronger than the warming we experienced in the 20th century or any warming in the past 10,000 years. The impacts on humanity will be enormous. However, there is also a great deal of uncertainty about the effects of warming on humanity, which can lead to pessimism in many situations. Nevertheless, given the impacts of continued warming, we can’t afford to sit on the sidelines. It’s clear that it’s time to start paying attention to future climate issues and start working to minimize warming.
