Climate mitigation and adaptation
Climate mitigation involves the various methods employed to reduce greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, and its eventual conversion into greenhouse gases, is produced primarily by the usage or burning of coal, gas and oil, which are the foundational forms of energy generation upon which most modern day societies are built. For example, Coal and gas are burned mainly to produce electricity, gas is burned mainly to provide heating for homes and propelling machinery in factories and oil helps produce gasoline and diesel fuel for all types of vehicles used for road transportation purposes. Coal, gas and oil are referred to as fossil fuels mainly because of their sources. They derive from vegetation fermented for a long period of time below the earth’s surface and to a greater extent in some regions. Other human activities, like clearing and burning forests for agricultural and cattle rearing contribute carbon dioxide creation. Burning forests produces carbon dioxide and also, because trees absorb carbon dioxide cutting them down technically puts more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
The release of high levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere has been steadily increasing since at least the 1800’s, (see the Paris Agreement). As nations’ populations grow and their economies expand and industrialize, the demand for fossil fuels has increased, depositing even more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Today a country with an average population size has millions of vehicles on the roadways, thousands of factories and manufacturing companies, millions of homes and offices using electricity, heating and air conditioning and all engaging in the burning fossil fuels. Since the 1800’s, 200 years have lapsed and today there are about 200 countries in the world, multiplying these realities by the fossil fuel usage of a single average population size country, it becomes easier to get at least a global mental picture, of the extraordinary volume of carbon dioxide being deposited continually, into the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide consolidates as greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and traps the sun’s generated heat that is moving back from the earth into space, this process is widespread across the planet and causes what is called global warming. Climate change is a consequence of global warming and mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, are the ways humanity has now employed to make the planet more livable.
Basically, mitigation is the reduction of the greenhouse gas that makes its way into the atmosphere. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, science.nasa.gov, states that this can be done in two distinct ways, “by reducing sources of these gasses (for example, the burning of fossil fuels for electricity, heat or transport) or enhancing the ‘sinks’ that accumulate and store these gasses (such as the oceans, forests and soil).” The soil, forests and oceans all trap a fair amount of the global carbon emissions, but not by the quantity necessary to avoid global warming. Two of the most tangible ways nations have embarked on, to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide is to switch from fossil fuel to renewable energy or clean energy, as it is frequently called, like solar, wind, hydropower and nuclear, including the adoption of the use of Electric vehicles.
According to science.nasa.gov “adaptation-adapting to life in a changing climate-involves adjusting to actual or expected future climate. The goal is to reduce our risks from the harmful effects of climate Change (like sea-level rise, more intense extreme weather events or food insecurity).” In the fight against climate change, adaptation proves easier to accomplish than mitigation, according to the article, most countries are doing fairly well at adaptation, mainly in terms of coastlines fortification against sea-level rise, deforestation avoidance, better agricultural practices, flood protection enhancement and better infrastructure designs. The success rate for mitigation is much different. As ember-energy.org states in its 2024 report, though renewable energies are making inroads, “fossil fuels still provide 59% of the world’s electricity-and coal power remains the largest source of electricity and the largest emitter in the global economy.” From the standpoint of electric vehicles, the International Energy Agency, iea.org, states that “sales exceeded 17 million globally in 2024, putting EV’s share of the global car market above 20% for the first time,” a clear indication that mitigation is lagging behind adaptation.