Climate Change explained: Causes, consequences and solutions

Hi everyone,

In this course, we will address the climate change phenomenon from many angles and we will discuss its causes, consequences, and solutions.

Greenhouse gases are the reason behind this phenomenon. These gases, mainly carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, have increased in concentration in recent years in the atmosphere because of fossil fuel combustion, agriculture and livestock, and deforestation.

These gases hold solar radiation and increase the earth’s temperature, which leads to global warming which eventually causes climate change. The increase of carbon dioxide concentration in the air causes also oceans acidification.

Climate change generates a lot of unwanted effects on many levels such as Extreme weather event intensification like floods and droughts, melting of ice caps and glaciers, propagation of diseases and pests, habitat destruction, coral bleaching, and many social and economic impacts.

Thus, we organized the course on climate change into three parts :

• Part one discusses direct causes of climate change, mainly fossil energy, agriculture, and deforestation, and indirect causes like capitalism, corporate lobbying, cryptocurrency, and science deniers. It also explains greenhouse gases’ origins and the concepts of global warming and climate change.

• Part 2 details some of climate change consequences, such as :

• Extreme weather and natural disasters

• Ice Melting

• Disease carrier and pest propagation

• Habitat destruction and wildlife loss

• Coral reef destruction

• Economic and social consequences

• Part 3 is dedicated to solutions to stop climate change, which includes solutions on governmental and individual levels, renewable energy, and transport electrification.

I hope you enjoy the course!