Climate change causes, effects, preventions, actions

Seth Bright Sanaki Opinion Feb - 10 - 2025 , 09:57 3 minutes read

Climate change is a change in the average weather conditions, such as, temperature and rainfall, in a region over a long period.

The change in earth's temperature increases as the level of carbon dioxide and other pollutants increases in the atmosphere.

This change may be caused naturally or due to the human activities on our planet. In current times, climate change is caused by the emission of carbon dioxide or methane into our atmosphere by vehicles, power plants and companies.

Landfills that emit methane, including deforestation, overfishing, mining and waste disposal.

We must understand that climate change cannot be stopped, but rather it can be reduced and this is the reason why the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) set goals on how to reduce carbon dioxide and methane in our atmosphere.

The devastating impact of climate change includes floods, intense droughts, erosion and other extreme weather events like volcanoes caused by extreme heat beneath the Earth's surface.

Thus, the need for climate action and transitioning from fossil fuels, found in the earth's crust and containing carbon and hydrogen, which can be burned for energy.
Some of the actions and solutions proposed by the UN to help reduce climate change are:

Renewable energies

The first way to prevent climate change is to move away from fossil fuels and begin to use renewable energies like solar, wind, biomass, etc.

The government of Ghana has done well in recent years by putting a majority of its energy investment into solar energy, a very good choice to reduce climate change or global warming.

Plants are life. We depend on them for 80 per cent of the food we eat and 98 per cent of the oxygen we breathe.

Planting trees as replacements for those cut down are good alternatives.

Governments must also encourage the planting of trees in city centres and along major roads, as this helps reduce global warming since the carbon dioxide emitted into the air by vehicles is easily absorbed by the trees and then processed to become oxygen for good breath.

If we observe our current buildings in the cities, we could notice that during or after sunset, our buildings, offices and homes experience an increase in heat and some severe temperature increases.

To reduce the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from buildings — caused by heating, air conditioning, hot water or lighting — it is necessary both to build new low-energy buildings and to renovate the existing constructions.

The world’s roads are clogged with vehicles, most of them burning diesel or petrol. Walking or riding a bike instead of driving will reduce greenhouse gas emissions — and help with health and fitness.