This blog post examines the causes and severity of global warming and explores what kind of change individual actions can actually bring about.
Climate Crisis: Where Do We Stand Now?
Advances in science and technology have brought tremendous benefits to our society, but they have also created numerous problems. As living conditions became more convenient, the population grew exponentially, deepening issues like energy depletion, income inequality, and ecosystem destruction. However, the core threat underpinning all these problems is undoubtedly climate change.
What was once considered merely ‘environmental pollution’ has now become a core issue determining the Earth’s survival. In particular, the severity of climate warming caused by human activity grows worse with each passing year. How should we understand this crisis, and what efforts must we make?
What is climate warming?
Climate warming refers to the phenomenon of the Earth’s average temperature rising over the long term. While the Earth naturally experiences periodic ice ages and interglacial periods with fluctuating temperatures, the rapid temperature increase observed since the latter half of the 20th century is considered an abnormal phenomenon beyond natural cycles.
According to NASA and NOAA, the Earth’s average temperature has risen by approximately 1.2°C from 1880 to 2023. The rate of increase has become particularly steep in recent decades, and if this trend continues, humanity will face an environment far more dangerous than today within the next few decades.
What is the cause of global warming?
The primary cause is the increase in greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), and fluorinated gases all trap heat in the atmosphere, causing the Earth to overheat. Human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, industrialization, and deforestation, are driving carbon dioxide concentrations to unprecedented levels in history.
For example, atmospheric CO₂ concentrations were around 280 ppm before industrialization (in the 1750s), but have risen to approximately 424 ppm as of 2024. This figure is unprecedented in human history.
Glaciers are melting, and sea levels are rising
The most direct consequence of climate warming is the rapid decline of polar ice sheets. The Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets hold over 75% of the Earth’s freshwater. If these ice sheets melt, global sea levels will rise steeply.
According to NASA, sea levels have risen by more than 20 cm over the past 100 years. The bigger problem is that this rate is accelerating. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns that if current trends continue, sea levels could rise by up to 1 meter by 2100. Low-lying island nations like the Maldives and Kiribati, as well as major cities worldwide, would face the risk of flooding.
Changing Seasons, Shaken Ecosystems
Rising temperatures don’t just mean hotter weather. The collapse of the four seasons and the destabilization of ecological balance are also serious consequences of warming. While Korea traditionally had distinct four seasons, it is increasingly shifting towards a subtropical climate, with spring and autumn becoming progressively shorter and summer and winter longer.
This climate change directly leads to the collapse of biodiversity. Species sensitive to temperature changes lose their habitats or face extinction, threatening the entire food chain and ecosystem. According to one study, up to one-sixth of all animal and plant species could be at risk of extinction by the end of the 21st century.
What can we do?
The most crucial first step to prevent the climate crisis is reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide and methane, in particular, are emitted in large quantities from fossil fuels, so we must transition from a coal and oil-centered energy structure to one based on renewable energy.
Furthermore, expanding green spaces throughout cities and protecting forests significantly aids climate mitigation by absorbing carbon dioxide. Globally, systems like ‘REDD+’, ‘carbon taxes’, and ‘climate funds’ are being introduced to promote climate justice.
Through the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, the international community set the goal of limiting the global average temperature rise to within 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Since then, nations have embarked on greenhouse gas reduction through ‘2050 Carbon Neutrality’ declarations.
In conclusion
For a long time, we have destroyed nature in the name of ‘development’. The result is that while we have gained convenience today, we now face the boomerang of climate catastrophe as the price.
Global cooperation transcending national borders is now urgently needed. As fellow Earthlings living under the same sky, we must recognize this crisis together and act. The climate crisis is no longer a problem of the future. Right now, our choices and actions stand at a crossroads that will determine humanity’s future.
