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0 In this day and age, it is almost impossible to live life without witnessing direct and indirect impacts of climate change. Whether it is in the form of extreme weather, changes in crop growth and yields, reminders to use reusable bags at grocery stores in place of plastic bags to help the environment, or online educational awareness campaigns such as this one, reminders of climate change have slowly crept into our day-to-day lives, making it incredibly difficult ignore.
Nevertheless, there continues to be a selection of people who do not fully understand climate change and what it entails. Often, this is due to the fact that they are either misinformed about the subject matter or know little to nothing about it. We must realize that as time progresses, our society changes along with it and compared to ancestral ways of life, our modern day lifestyles are simply not as sustainable, causing significant implications for all living beings around the world.
So to start off, what exactly does climate mean, and what are the changes associated with it?
When meeting a new person for the first time, a conversation starter go-to is often to comment about the weather, a topic that can easily be related to by both parties because it is something they have both experienced. “It’s quite sunny today; the clouds this morning suggested heavy rain later on today.” This conversation can easily be mistaken for a conversation about the climate but there is a distinct difference between the terms climate and weather. Weather is the present (short-term) state of the atmosphere, whereas climate refers to the average of weather over time and space. For example, in Canada, summer is often associated with hot sunny weather whereas winter is associated with cold snowy weather because of long-term patterns that have been observed about the changing seasons throughout the years. In other words, Canada’s climate.
Based on this information, climate change then is simply a long-term change in the average regional and global weather patterns. For example, winters that begin later in the year, or significantly hotter summers; patterns that have been consistent throughout many generations are beginning to change.
Why is this important? Amongst other implications, in the Canadian context, climate change presents dangers and life-threatening environments to Black, Indigenous, and other racialized communities in particular as a result of negligence and acts of environmental racism during the environmental policy making process for marginalized regions.
This campaign is set to provide enlightenment on the adverse effects of climate change in Canada, particularly regarding those suffering from environmental racism, and how they can be reduced or averted through adaptation and mitigation measures. Join us again tomorrow as we dive into the causes of climate change together.
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