Op-Ed: Climate change is a big problem. Citizens must demand many small solutions
By Bob Ehrbar
The weather and the climate are two aspects of the natural world we’re becoming more and more accustomed to. But we often don’t recognize the degree to which they’re intertwined with one another. Climate change and weather both affect the land. Both are changing the environment, and both are changing our lives in many ways. But we often don’t realize the impact of these phenomena because we often don’t think about them in the same way.
Weather is a combination of atmospheric science, meteorology, and climate. That’s a lot of words, but they all represent concepts that are necessary for us to understand. Atmospheric science is about the air elements: the molecules of nitrogen, air and water. The atmosphere gives us weather, which is in turn influenced by the land. Meteoric particles enter our atmosphere and collide with air molecules, and they change the composition of the air to produce different weather patterns. The water molecule represents the ocean below the earth, which is the final factor that affects the climate of our planet. Water’s changing behavior has its impact on the climate as well.
We talk about climate as something that “has changed,” but our climate itself is changing. The atmosphere has changed. The oceans have changed. Temperature and rainfall have changed dramatically, and that’s just the beginning. You add precipitation, temperature and CO2 to the mix, and the changes are staggering.
In our society, we have to recognize that the climate has changed and we have to adapt to it.
The way we respond to climate change depends on our personal level of awareness. It’s different for everybody, and we’re not just dealing with issues in climate.
Some people are more interested in climate than others. It can be that individuals are interested in the environment and are more concerned about the environment. Or it may be that the public is just more aware of the environment as the years pass. Or, it may be that people are concerned because of the negative effects — like property damage — that’s caused by bad weather. Or