Day 1: What is Climate Change?

Today you will learn what climate change is from first principles, why it's a problem, why you should care about it, my top 5 recommendations for solutions to climate change, and how you can take action right now as an everyday citizen.

Summary

Explain succinctly what climate change is from first principles.

Climate change refers to the long-term alteration of Earth's average weather patterns and climate systems. It is primarily driven by human activities, particularly the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), into the atmosphere. These gases trap heat from the sun, creating a natural greenhouse effect that keeps the Earth warm enough to sustain life. However, human activities have significantly increased the concentrations of these gases in the atmosphere, leading to an enhanced greenhouse effect and, consequently, global warming.

Why is climate change a problem?

Climate change is a problem with far-reaching and potentially catastrophic consequences. It is disrupting the delicate balance of Earth's climate systems, leading to a wide range of negative impacts.

Some key problems associated with climate change include:

• Rising global temperatures: This leads to heatwaves, extreme weather events, and more frequent and intense natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, and wildfires.
• Melting ice and rising sea levels: As glaciers and polar ice caps melt, sea levels rise, posing a significant threat to coastal communities, ecosystems, and infrastructure.
• Ocean acidification: Increased CO2 in the atmosphere is absorbed by the oceans, causing them to become more acidic, which harms marine life and coral reefs.
• Biodiversity loss: Climate change affects ecosystems and habitats, resulting in the extinction or migration of plant and animal species, disrupting ecosystems' ability to function.
• Food and water security: Changing weather patterns can affect crop yields and water availability, leading to food and water shortages in vulnerable regions.

Why should people care about climate change?

Climate change is an urgent and existential threat to our planet and future generations.

Here are some reasons why people should care:

• Human well-being: Climate change affects human health, livelihoods, and living conditions, especially in vulnerable communities.
• Economic consequences: Climate-related disasters and damages can have severe economic repercussions at local, national, and global scales.
• Global implications: Climate change is a global challenge that requires collective action from all nations to address effectively.
• Ethical responsibility: We have a moral obligation to protect the planet and preserve its resources for future generations.

How might someone start solving this problem today?

Addressing climate change requires a multi-faceted approach involving individuals, governments, businesses, and international cooperation.

Here are Brandon's recommendations:

• For all of these solutions, its important that they add to our lives. Not take away.
• Education: The whole reason Plato University exists. Without education, people will not be aware of the problem or solutions. Education underlies all other issues.
• Transition to renewable energy with upgrades to our electric grids: This will require a portfolio of energy solutions, but I personally think hydropower has significant potential. You will learn in the Hydropower lesson that 97% of dams in the US are currently not used for producing electricity. Combine that with smart grid technology discussed in a lesson with Joshua Rhodes from University of Texas, Austin and you would see significant reduction in carbon emissions from fossil fuels.
• Regenerative Agriculture: Although the dominant narrative is to go more plant based, the reality of getting everyone to give up meat is not going to happen. So it would be beneficial to find ways to sustain meat production while improving the environment
• Protecting Biodiversity:  The earth has been naturally sequestering carbon in carbon sinks, areas of land or water that store pull carbon from the air and store them for long periods. You'll hear about the Half Earth Project, which aims to protect 50% of land to increase biodiversity. As a consequence of that, it will also protect 50% of the land for  natural carbon sinks like forests, wetlands, and oceans, which you will learn about as well.
• Building Materials: Maybe I'm biased because I used to be an architect, but industry, and the building materials created by it, require immense amount of carbon. So I would focus on new, innovative materials that are healthy for humans and the environment. This will also require designers making them beautiful and cool to use, or they will never be adopted.

I'm an everyday citizen. What small action could I take right now to help solve climate change?

The best actions an individual could take right now are:

• Learn and educate yourself about the problem: The more able you are to critically think about the problem, the more effective you will be at deciding solutions.
• Vote: During this course one of the skills you will hear over and over is understanding policy. As an everyday citizen, you can effect policy by the way you vote. You can either vote with a ballot on policies being implemented at both the local and federal level, or you can vote with your dollars, buying from and investing in companies creating solutions or using sustainable business practices.
• Creating Solutions: Either coming up with your own solutions or contributing to existing solutions and accelerating their innovation and adoption. This will also require you to learn and educate yourself. Which is why you are listening to this course.

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Activity

During this course we will be using the MISO Method of Action Research.

• Action research is a collaborative and participatory research approach that focuses on addressing real-world problems and improving practices within a specific context. It involves systematic inquiry, reflection, and action taken by practitioners, researchers, or stakeholders to generate practical solutions and positive changes in their environment. Action research is characterized by its iterative nature, involving cycles of planning, action, observation, and reflection.

We are specifically using this method because it focuses on:

• Problem Solving: Action research allows practitioners to directly engage with issues they face in their work or environment, leading to practical solutions that address real problems.
• Knowledge Generation: Action research generates context-specific knowledge that may not be captured by traditional research methods. This knowledge is often valuable for localized decision-making.

There are four kinds of Action Research:

• Media: videos, audios, maps, articales, books, ect. During this course you will hear recommendations from myself and experts on media resources to research further.
• Interview: asking an expert. This course leans heavily into interviews with top experts in their field. Some lessons have been developed with the help of AI; however we will continue to update this course with expert interviews as those with knowledge come forward to contribute.
• Survey: using set questions with people who have knowledge on a topic or for general knowledge or opinions. During the lessons, stakeholders of these issues are discussed. I encourage you to actually talk with these stakeholders and ask them questions about how the problem effects them.
• Observation, Experiments, and Experience: using our surroundings or memories of being somewhere, or creating an experiment or simulation. Each lesson has an activity associated with it for you to begin mastering the information presented. These will ask you to make observations, experiment, or understand your own experience with the problem.

Your activity today is simple:

• What do you think this problem is?
• Why do you care about it?
• What skills and talents could you bring to help solve this problem?

Skill Lesson Mastered

Demonstrate mastery of the knowledge and skills presented in this lesson by applying it to the above activity. If, and only if, you have a full understanding and have mastered the knowledge and skills presented in this lesson, select the next lesson in the navigation.