A Global Warming Mind Map to Counter Climate Change

Countering climate change is humanity’s greatest challenge. The following global warming mind maps demonstrate what causes global warming. They also show the measures we can take to stop it. 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change cautions against global warming exceeding 1.5°C above pre-Industrial levels. We have already increased global average temperatures by 1°C.¹ As a result, we have “more frequent wildfires, longer periods of drought in some regions and an increase in the number, duration and intensity of tropical storms”.² These effects will only worsen as the planet becomes hotter.

Thanks to melting Arctic Ice, rapidly rising sea levels are also highly likely if climate change continues. This will be a catastrophe for small islands, low-lying coastal areas and deltas.³ A great deal is at stake in the climate change debate. Yet, the solution to the problem is surprisingly simple.

What are global warming mind maps?

Global warming mind maps are diagrams that visually organise information. They make it easier to see the relationship between various parts of a wider concept or idea. Global warming mind maps show the different causes, effects and other related factors of climate change. They should make it easier to visualise and understand the problem and its solutions.

What do you know about the greenhouse effect?

Most people learn about the greenhouse effect at school. It is a naturally occurring process that helps to warm up the Earth’s surface.⁴ Various gases in the atmosphere trap heat from sunlight and prevent it from escaping into space. These greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxides.⁵ Without the greenhouse effect, the Earth would be too cold for life to exist.⁶

However, since the Industrial Revolution – when humans began burning fossil fuels – the atmospheric CO2 concentration has increased by 47 per cent.⁷ As a result, we have caused 1°C of global warming.⁸ 

How can we combat global warming?

CO2 is responsible for the most important long-lived “forcing” of climate change, according to NASA.⁹ It can remain in the atmosphere for thousands of years.¹⁰ As much as 89 per cent of all human-caused CO2 emissions come from burning fossil fuels.¹¹ A further eight to 10 per cent of our CO2 emissions come from deforestation.¹² This is because trees absorb and store carbon. When they are cut down and burned or left to rot, they rerelease the carbon as CO2.¹³

Methane stays in the atmosphere for less time than CO2. However, it has at least 84 times the warming power of CO2 over 20 years. Much of it comes from the natural gas and petroleum industries. Agriculture is also a significant source of methane, particularly from grazing animals’ digestive systems. It is responsible for about 16 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions.¹⁴

What does climate change mean?

Climate change means the broad transformation of our planet’s usual temperature, precipitation and wind.¹⁵ It affects average weather patterns as well as local, regional and global temperatures. Climate change differs from global warming because this latter term refers exclusively to the human-caused, long-term increase in our planet’s average temperature. The burning of fossil fuels, which increases the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, is mainly responsible for both phenomena.¹⁶

Climate change is a broader term than global warming since it refers to more than just an increase in our planet’s average temperature. For example, global warming leads to heavier precipitation in some areas. Since the year 1901, the US has become 4 per cent wetter. By the year 2100, floodplains in the US will grow by 45 per cent. These developments may be described as aspects of climate change.¹⁷ Evidently, the effects of climate change involve more than an increase in temperature.

How can we solve climate change?

Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are the cause of climate change.¹⁸ We, therefore, need to stop creating more emissions. Simultaneously, we need to remove some of the CO2 and other gases from the atmosphere. Global warming mind maps can demonstrate the simplicity of this solution.

Causes of greenhouse gas emissions

Fossil fuels are by far the biggest cause of greenhouse gas emissions. They account for about 89 per cent of global CO2 emissions.¹⁹ Energy consumption is behind 73 per cent of worldwide human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. This includes “transportation, electricity and heat, buildings, manufacturing and construction, fugitive emissions and other fuel combustion”.²⁰ If we did not burn coal, oil and natural gas for these purposes, we could massively reduce our emissions.

Deforestation is another major source of CO2 emissions. It represents up to 10 per cent of all CO2 emissions. This is because trees absorb and store CO2. Clearing vegetation and burning wood releases the greenhouse gas once more.²¹ It also means that the trees cannot soak up any further carbon. Deforestation, therefore, leaves more gas in the atmosphere.

Agriculture drives at least 80 per cent of deforestation. Much of this involves clearing tropical forests to make space for cattle ranching or planting mega crops, such as soy or palm oil.²² Even worse, agricultural production itself accounts for 11 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions. Rearing livestock, in particular, contributes to global warming. Grazing animals, such as cows, sheep and goats, produce 40 per cent of agricultural emissions.²³

Can we remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere?

One of the cheapest and most efficient ways of taking CO2 out of the atmosphere is by planting trees.²⁴ In addition to cutting fossil fuel consumption and stopping deforestation, this could tackle climate change. It both prevents the emission of additional greenhouse gases and helps to mitigate the greenhouse effect. 

This is because trees, like all plants, pull CO2 directly out of the air. They use sunlight for energy and water from the ground to convert the carbon into wood. This locks the carbon in the tree itself. Trees also help the nearby soil to capture large amounts of carbon.²⁵ Over its 100-year lifetime, a native UK broadleaf tree takes up about one tonne of CO2.²⁶ Therefore, planting more trees can help to remove more CO2.

The limitations of tree planting

However, it can take a long time for trees to absorb significant quantities of CO2. Older and more mature trees sequester more of the greenhouse gas.²⁷ Therefore, to combat global warming, we must protect the forests we already have as well as planting new woodland. 

But, even at their optimum health, our existing forests can only absorb a quarter of our current emissions.²⁸ To truly solve the problem of climate change, we must massively reduce our fossil fuel usage.

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