By Xiao-Ning Zhang and Pauline Hoffmann

“The climate crisis is a human rights crisis.“

— UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres

July 2023 was the hottest month on record globally. Just months before that, some residents in the Finger Lakes region of New York State found their homes encased in ice from flash frozen lake water during a blizzard. These extreme weather events are now part of our global climate – a result of climate change.

What is climate change and is it the same as weather? Often people confuse the two. Weather refers to what atmospheric conditions are happening at a particular place at a specific time. Climate, on the other hand, refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Climate change has upended weather patterns worldwide for decades and is showing no signs of slowing down despite global efforts to stem the tide.

To explain why climate change is important, let’s return to high school science class for a refresher. Carbon is the building block for macromolecules, such as proteins and DNA, which are in all living things. Humans and animals rely on the food they eat to get these building blocks. At the same time, they release carbon dioxide to the air. Only plants and other photosynthetic organisms can take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and turn it into building blocks for proteins and DNA. When more carbon dioxide is released into the air than plants can take in, carbon dioxide gets trapped in the atmosphere. In combination with other so-called greenhouse gases, it keeps the Earth warm. More greenhouse gases in the air, the warmer the Earth becomes. Scientists used to refer to climate change as global warming, and this is why.

This warming is having a negative impact on Earth. In the last 10-20 years, natural disasters have shown their destructive power more frequently. Our World in Data notes that from 1970 to 2023, the number of reported global natural disasters has increased from under 100 per year to more than 400 per year, with flooding and extreme weather being the most common. This coincides with the exponential rise of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide since 1970. An increase of more than four times in just five decades is not something that we should turn a blind eye to as it directly threatens life on Earth. These disastrous events are just one indicator of climate change, and they are clearly telling us that the climate on Earth is changing, whether we like it or not.

There are several causes of climate change, including the burning of fossil fuels, manufacturing, deforestation, food production, transportation, powering buildings and consumption. The burning of fossil fuels may be seen in all of the other causes including food production. We need to power our tractors and other equipment in order to farm. We need agriculture in order to feed ourselves, our families and our livestock. In fact, the production of beef creates the largest carbon footprint – measured in kilograms of greenhouse gas emission — of any agricultural product. Generally, production of non-meat proteins produces the least amount of greenhouse gas emissions with the exception of chocolate from a deforested rain forest.

The richest 1% of the global population combined account for more greenhouse gas emissions than the poorest 50%. China, the United States, the European Union and India are the world’s greatest offenders. Those most at risk are the poorest countries with African countries being most affected by climate change.

The United Nations predicted that global climate change impacts, such as intense heat, drought, bushfires, floods and storms, displaced 30 million people in 2020 and, without increased action on climate change control, could displace around a billion people by 2050. Conversely, the Center for Biological Diversity has projected the extinction of over 30% of the species on Earth, including plants and animals, if greenhouse gas emissions keep rising as they have been. That’s around 1 million animal and plant species threatened with extinction. These changes can be attributed to human activity which has altered almost 75% of the Earth’s surface.

Many aspects of this warning are alarming to us. But the bottom line is that all humans and animals rely on food and shelter to survive. When environmental conditions become harsh, animals may be able to move away and find a better, more accommodating, place to live. However, this is not the case for plants, especially the fruits and vegetables we eat. They have to survive where they are rooted. Arguably, climate change could bring favorable conditions allowing for longer growing seasons in some areas, like western New York, but it can also have a deleterious impact on the growing seasons in other regions due to more days with extreme heat. Much of our food production is facing combined threats from extreme weather and the increase of the spread of pathogens and pests. Right now, we are facing a threat of Avian Flu as it jumps from species to species. We could be next.

Overall, with more frequent extreme weather events around the world, global food security is facing more threat than benefit. You might ask, why should people in the United States care? The USDA estimates that we import nearly 200 billion dollars in agricultural products from other countries yearly.

A recent study by researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder predicted that the number of farms in Europe and North America is declining while creation and consolidation of farms in the rest of the world may be increasing. Their study predicted that by the end of this century, there would be fewer but larger farms. This is concerning because our food supply very likely suffers greater catastrophe due to yield loss from a large farm than a few smaller farms when natural disaster hits. Additionally, the world’s population continues to grow and reliance on agriculture will only increase.

Earth is incredibly interconnected. Climate change is already impacting our coral reef systems which serve as a natural nursery to many of the sea creatures we depend on for food. Climate change has caused prolonged droughts and famine in the poorest countries. It has altered growing seasons and migration patterns.

Further, an increase in temperature of just 1.5 degrees C (or 2.7 degrees F) will impact the availability of water and food by causing increased droughts and lower food yields. It will cause sea level rise impacting the approximately 40% of the world’s population living within 100 km (or 62 miles) of a coast. It will lead to more powerful and more frequent extreme weather events. It will cost more for all of us to live on the planet. The predicted increase of 2 degrees C (or 3.6 degrees F) will have an even greater impact!

Climate change is not up for debate. It is here and now. What humans have done has affected the well-being of our planet. It will continue to do so if we don’t take action to slow climate change. We can make some simple changes that, collectively, will have a big impact. Act locally and advocate for changes in your neighborhood. Save energy at home by not running appliances or other electronics when not in use. Walk, bike or take public transit, if possible. Eat more of a vegetarian diet than meat-filled and throw away less food. Most importantly, reduce, reuse, repurpose, recycle, vote and speak with your wallet and actions.

Xiao-Ning Zhang is a professor in the Biology Department at St. Bonaventure University and director of the Biochemistry Program. Pauline Hoffmann is an associate professor in the Jandoli School of Communication at St. Bonaventure.

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Visit our Hybrid Journalism Page to learn more about the project and view other articles. To learn more about this article, view a conversation with the authors, hosted by Cassidey Kavathas.

Categories: hybrid journalism, Jandoli Institute