Nishant Saxena

Hey kids! It’s me your mate, cli’mate’!
You seem surprised. Don’t you know me? Well, if you don’t, let me introduce myself. I am climate. But, I’m pretty sad these days. I’m losing friends and that’s what’s making me sad.
I think I mustn’t leave you wondering what I am and what’s changing me. So, let me first tell you what’s climate and what’s making it change. Because unless you know me, how can you be my friend?

Weather or climate?
To understand me, you should first understand my cousin, weather. You may think we are one and the same, but weather and climate are two different species!

While weather is about short-term changes in the atmosphere, climate is about how the weather is in a particular region, spread over a year or more. For instance, if it’s too hot outside, then that’s the weather in your city. For instance rain, cold, wind, snow, cyclone, etc, are all-weather events.

Now ask yourself what’s the weather in your city these days. Is it the same as last year this month and in this month in the previous year as well? If yes, then that’s the climate of your state or region.

In simple terms, climate is a pattern of weather that repeats over a long time, years and even centuries. For example, a desert usually has a dry climate because it doesn’t rain much there. But when it rains, it’s just a weather event. The climate of that region is dry.

Climate change
Now that you know the difference between climate and weather, Let’s discuss climate change, a big issue these days.
Well, climate change means a change in usual weather patterns — such as temperature and rainfall — in a region for several years. For example, the annual mean temperature in India has increased by 1.2℃ from what it was 100 years ago. That’s climate change.

But climate change is not just impacting India. It is impacting the entire Planet Earth. The earth’s temperature is rising, changing usual weather conditions around the world.

Summers are getting warmer, winters colder; it’s either raining too much or not at all. Sea levels are rising and the mountain snows are melting too fast.

This warming of the earth is changing usual global weather patterns and global climate.

Global warming
From this you can well imagine, warming of the earth has been changing me. But first why is the earth warming and making weather conditions worldwide unpredictable.

But before that, let me ask you a trick question. What does a blanket do?
You got it right. It helps us remain warm when it’s cold. Similarly, the Planet Earth would have been a ball of ice had it not been surrounded by a blanket of gases, which keeps it warm and comfortable.

But just as you don’t like too many blankets because it would make you sweaty and uncomfortable, Planet Earth also doesn’t like it if the blankets of gases becomes too thick. It makes the earth sweaty and uncomfortable.

As more and more greenhouse gases rise from the earth into the atmosphere, they make the earth’s blanket thicker. Every time we drive our cars, or use electricity, carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is released into the atmosphere adding to the earth’s blankets.

In short, human activities are adding carbon to the atmosphere and multiplying the number of blankets surrounding planet Earth which is starting to sweat profusely.

(Nishant Saxena is a Lucknow-based science communicator)