Climate Change: What it Is, and How it Can Affect Your Life

It appears that that phrase "climate change" or "global warming" is on the tongues of quite a number of people. News media, science, even the local supermarkets are all clamoring to show you how "green" or environmentally friendly they can be. Unfortunately, there is still a good bit of confusion about exactly what climate change is, and how it can truly affect your life. Hopefully in the next few paragraphs, you will gain a better understanding of what it is, and what it means to your life.

In everyday life, the terms of "climate change" and "global warming" are used to describe the overall increase in temperature that appears to be happening over the last century or so. However, according to the National Academy of Sciences, the term "climate change" is more accurate, since it comes with the understanding that changing temperatures is not the only factors to consider or effects that are being observed. In essence, the term climate change is used to "describe any distinct change in the measures of climate lasting for long periods of time" (EPA 2010). This means that it encompasses all climatic or weather related phenomena, such as rainfall, snow, wind patterns, even drought cycles. A climate forecast is for decades or centuries, not days or weeks.

Looking over such a broad scale, however, does mean that a number of things can, and often do influence climate change. It is a truly complicated process, and one that we don't have a complete understanding of yet. We do, however, understand that the following occurrences or factors do influence how the climate fluctuates through time:

• Natural causes - things such as solar flares, fluctuating of the sun's energy and even minute changes in the Earth's orbit can affect the climate. After all, the seasons that we experience every day are caused by how the earth is tilted from a vertical axis.

• Natural changes here on the planet, such as the natural fluctuation of ocean current systems or changes in the landscape can also have an effect on the climate. For example, a grassland prairie slowly changing into a forested area would help to retain moisture in the area, which in turn might cool the region down somewhat. This slight shift in temperature would affect the overall temperature of the region, which in turn would have a small effect on the overall climate.

• Human activity -- Like it or not, evidence does show that a sizable portion of the climate change that the Earth has experienced since the early 1900s can be attributed to human activity. Actions such as the burning of coal, gasoline, and other petroleum products have significantly changed the chemical composition of the air, and things such as mining, the development of roads, cities, and even the loss of many natural forests around the planet has significantly changed the Earth, and what must happen for it to stay in balance.

So the question becomes of course, since climate change is so big and so unyielding, than why should the average person worry about it. After all, a seven year drought in African doesn't really affect a person in the United States sitting in a corner office, or a fisherman down in Ecuador, right? Well, the simple answer to that is wrong. Climate change is a world problem, but it can have very local and very meaningful effects.

Perhaps one of the most noticeable ways that climate change can affect the average person's daily life, perhaps your life, is through health. Something as simple as an average increase in temperature, can lead to longer heat waves in the summer. This in turn can lead to more potential heat strokes, dehydration, sunburn, and all the other things that can make summertime that much less bearable.

In addition, the food you place on your dinner plate and the amount of nutrition that you get in your day can be greatly affected by climate change. Farmers and ranchers use their experience and knowledge of the weather patterns and seasonal changes to plant their crops or move their herds to gain the best advantage. Climate change can change when the weather begins to cool, or when the first frosts of the winter season come. It can also affect the length of the rainy seasons, or whether the farmer in Kansas will experience a drought this year. Depending on what happens, this year's harvest, or even next year's cattle quality might be what you expect.

In addition to how climate change can affect the food you eat, and the local weather, it can also contribute to the number of times you get sick, and for how long. Climate change has been shown to contribute to an increase in infectious diseases, such as malaria, encephalitis, even dengue fever - all which are sicknesses that are vector in nature. They are transmitted by insects such as mosquitos. A change in the overall climate means that there may be more precipitation or rainfall in a given area. This increase in moisture means an increase in the insect population, which in turn can lead to the spread of disease.

Another way that climate change can affect your health is through your allergies. Chances are you know someone who has asthma or suffers from the congestion and various symptoms of allergies. Did you know that the changes in the climate can be aggravating some of your symptoms? It's true. Most people are allergic to some sort of mold or fungus, in addition to the classic culprits such as ragweed or pollen. A relatively rapid change in the climate can cause the amount of mold or pollen present in the air to increase, or allow flowers to bloom earlier or later in the season. This new influx of allergens essentially overloads the body's ability to compensate and the sneezing and watery commences. So the next time you wake up with a sore throat, consider placing some of the blame on the last century's worth of climate change.

These are just a few of the ways that the global effect of climate change can affect you, and any other person in this world. While some change is good and necessary, too much can lead to problems, both on the environmental scale, and on the health scale. By understanding a few of the ways that climate change can affect your life, it may be possible to find a new balance between what we need, the planet, and our goals for the future.