What is climate change? Climate change is the drastic change in weather that usually occurs in a specific region. This change comes in many forms such as rising temperatures for a prolonged period or the increase in rain and snow activity (NASA 2014). Having understood what climate change is, you may wonder how this relates to humans? Currently, one of Earth’s climate changes is the sudden increase in surface temperature throughout the planet, also known as global warming. This results in rising sea levels due to the melting of ice caps, increased risk of forest fire due to hotter climates and the increased frequency and intensity of tropical storms due to warmer waters. The Australian wildfire, 2021 Henan flood and Hurricane Ida are all disasters caused by climate change. All these disasters are a testimony of how climate change is very real and will continue to get worse if nothing is done about it now.
As a student aspiring to join the civil engineering field, climate change is crucial in how to design and build infrastructure. Presently buildings are the greatest CO2 emitters throughout the world, especially glass towers. The main function of a building is to provide a habitable space for people to live or work in. This means each building needs to maintain a hospitable humidity level, temperature level and lighting. As such, the amount of energy required to power a building drastically increases as a building gets taller. In addition, the trend of having a glass façade is unsustainable for the environment. Glass has a low R-value, the material’s ability to resist heat flow (Mehta et al 99), meaning the heavy reliance of HVAC systems to cool or heat the building further increases the energy usage. In conclusion, the first step for humans to make a major difference in the battle against climate change is by making buildings more sustainable and less reliant on heavy energy usage.
Work Cited Page
Mehta, Madan, et al. Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and System. 2nd Edition, Pearson, 2013.
NASA. “What Is Climate Change?” NASA, 14 May 2014, www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-climate-change-k4.html
