What should the world first do against the climate change?

If we accept the current dominant climate change theory then climate change is already happening with the worst yet to come once temperatures increase too much. This means that we cannot stop climate change since climate change is already here, and the only two things we can do is make sure not to increase climate change impact even further, and also to adapt to new climate conditions the best we can.

In order not to make things even worse we should significantly decrease the amount of CO2 emissions that are released in atmosphere. Fossil fuels burning is the main reason behind excessive emissions so we should be doing everything that is in our power to replace fossil fuels with clean, renewable energy sources. Sadly, energy demand keeps on growing, and clean energy sources are still not developed enough to provide significant share of world's total energy since they lack both tradition, as well as powerful lobbies that would support them.

If we accept the fact that climate change impact will become more powerful as the years will go by then each country must do its maximum to ensure painless adaptation to new climate change. Rich countries shouldn't have too much problem with it but what about poor developing countries? Dozens billions of dollar each year are needed to ensure the best possible adaptation to climate change for developing countries, and as climate conditions will become worse even more money will be needed with each new year.

Developing countries feel that the rich countries are not to be trusted since many of them have broken their promises to cut their own emissions which has created mistrust on global level that is definitely one of the main reasons that certainly played major role in undermining climate talks in Copenhagen.

But the positive factor in this whole story could be the global clean energy race. Clean energy sources are becoming increasingly popular, and it looks like all the big players want not only to participate in this race but have also set their sights on medals.

However, international climate deal is still needed, because political promises are worthless without legally binding document. Hopefully next climate talks will be able to deliver the international climate deal, so the world could actually witness that not all political promises are false.

Climate change impact on forests and rainforests - Facts

Forests, especially rainforests play vital role in decreasing the impact of climate change because they absorb large quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere. This is the reason why forests are sometimes called as "the nature's answer to global warming".

With the increased temperatures that are expected in years to come there will be also an increased chance of wildfires and they are very likely to become more frequent and powerful enough to destroy many of forests on our planet.

Old tropical rainforests that are absorbing the most of carbon emission are disappearing very fast because of high rates of deforestation.

Current rates of deforestation in many parts of the world are horrific and with less forests remaining less CO2 can be absorbed from the atmosphere.

Old ancient rainforests absorb most of CO2, and they should be preserved at any cost if we want to avoid the worst of climate change. Rainforests are also home to many unique species, and areas with he richest biodiversity in the world so if we destroy them many animal species will go extinct.

Old ancient rainforests absorb large quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere which prevents further temperature increase.

The world's largest rainforest is Amazon rainforest. Deforestation of Amazon rainforest contributes to three quarters of total Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions.

Forest funding is one of the best options to stop deforestation in developing countries and should be used much more if we want to preserve our forests and rainforests.

Deforestation on global level is responsible for about one fifth of total world's greenhouse emissions. The more forest we lose the more CO2 remains in the atmosphere.

Stronger evidence for human caused climate change

Despite the recent increase in number of climate change skeptics due to some controversies about former climate change studies majority of the scientists still believe that human activity caused climate change, and that climate change impact is becoming stronger and stronger.

The UK Met Office study, after assessing 110 research papers on the climate change concluded that the climate change evidence is stronger now compared to time when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change carried out its last assessment in 2007.

According to this report our climate is changing rapidly, and mostly due to the increase in greenhouse gases that are result of human activity (fossil fuels burning).

What scientists in this study did found out is that changes in Arctic sea ice, atmospheric moisture, saltiness of parts of the Atlantic Ocean and temperature changes in the Antarctic are consistent with human influence on our climate, and all these factors point out to the global picture of warming world.

This study hasn't only looked at the regional and global temperatures but also the changes in Arctic sea ice, changes in rainfall patterns, and humidity of atmosphere. And according to Dr Stott, one of the lead authors of this study "all these different aspects of the climate system are adding up to a picture of the effects of a human influence on our climate."

And yet despite so many studies that say how Earth is changing rapidly because of human caused climate change world is still not doing necessary things to halt further strengthening of the climate change impact. The same old story again and again, lots of talk and promises, and no necessary action.