A BREAK FOR MAN, A REBIRTH FOR NATURE

According to some researches, scientists have warned that some recent events will change climatology. Climatology is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. It studies the climate of a region in certain time intervals (months, years, seasons), the reciprocal relationships of meteorological phenomena, their modifications in relation to the geographical conditions of the Earth’s surface, and their effects on physical and biological phenomena. The historical climate studies are based on reading documents and on the visual analysis of paintings, draws and rock arts. In addition there are also scientific methods for the study of the climate in the past, based on studies on the increase of the population levels, or on the evolution of plants and animals and the climate in different countries. Today, thanks to new technologies, studies are carried out by computer programs that use mathematical equations to simulate how the climate will change in the future and the impact that human actions will have on nature over a long period of time, based on well-documented physical models of the Earth, such as the energy conservation. To verify these aspects, scientists add processes of the Earth’s system, as mathematical equations, so that the climate model can solve them. The program will create a threedimensional image so they can see how the theories and solutions for climate change would have effect on the planet. The values that the scientists will enter on the program are based on the theories and data they have elaborated. Thanks to climate models, scientists can demonstrate that the behaviours we choose to adopt today will determinate climate change in the future. The more the years pass, the more the temperature rises and it isn't a favorable condition for the climate. One example? The global mean temperature has risen by 1.2 °C and since 2015, we have been living the hottest years that human’s era have ever lived. With the Paris Agreement it was established that the temperature must be reduced by two degrees. Many states and nations are doing their best to make this happen. Some recent events have demonstrated that the climatic situation has also improved during the pandemic: during the lockdown the maximum level of CO2 reduction has been recorded. Despite the reduction in CO2 emissions, the following graph shows that in Basilicata there was an increase in temperature during 2021.

What might happen in a warmer world? Scientists think that we should act immediately to slow down the Earth’s warming. The lockdown and pandemic made us understand that there is an alternative way to live, but a few months are not enough to see the long-term effects.

Francesca Alba 3AS Rebecca Alessandria 3AS Bruna Grieco 3AS Ettore Morgese 4BM