What You Need to Know About Climate Change Tips for Sustainable Green Spaces in Home

If you’re reading this, you probably already care about what’s happening to our planet. Maybe you feel the urgency. I do too. That’s why I created the Climate Placement Project, to offer clarity, connection, and solutions.
Here’s what you need to know about climate change. I’ve simplified it, but I haven’t watered it down. The numbers are real. The stakes are high. But so is our capacity to act.
What Is Climate Change?
Climate change is the long-term shift in Earth’s temperatures and weather patterns. It’s not a future problem, it’s already here. Between 2015 and 2024, global temperatures were about 1.28°C warmer than they were in the late 1800s. The year 2024 was the hottest year on record, and the first time we officially crossed the 1.5°C threshold in a calendar year.
What’s Causing It?
While Earth has always had natural climate cycles, this rapid warming is not natural. It’s caused by us , by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas for electricity, transportation, and industry.
These fuels release carbon dioxide (CO2), which acts like a heat-trapping blanket around the planet. Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, CO2 levels have increased by around 50%, the fastest spike in hundreds of thousands of years.
What’s Already Happening?
We’re already seeing the consequences, and they’re hitting faster than most people realize:

Warmer oceans are fueling stronger hurricanes and damaging marine life
In 2024, Hurricanes Helene and Milton each caused over $50 Billion in damages. In 2022, a drought in East Africa, made 100x more likely by climate change, put 20 million people at risk of starvation.
This isn’t distant. It’s now.

What You Need to Know About Climate Change.docx
Why Does 1.5°C Matter?
In 2015, nearly every country on Earth agreed in Paris to try to keep global warming to
1.5°C. Why? Because every tenth of a degree after that multiplies the risks:

Fly less. Use trains and public transport when you can.

Hot days could be 4°C hotter instead of 3°C

Sea levels could rise even further, affecting 10 million more people

99% of coral reefs could be lost

Hundreds of millions more people could fall into poverty
There’s also the risk of tipping points , irreversible changes like the collapse of Greenland’s ice sheet. We don’t know exactly when they’ll occur… but we’re getting close.
Who’s Most Affected?
Roughly 3.3 to 3.6 billion people are highly vulnerable to climate change. That’s almost half the world. Most live in countries that contribute the least to the problem, and yet they suffer the most.
This raises big questions about fairness, justice, and responsibility. But make no mistake: global problems like food shortages and economic instability ripple outward. They affect us all.
What Are Governments Doing?
To stay below 1.5°C, we need to reach net zero emissions by 2050. That means drastically reducing emissions and finding ways to remove the rest from the atmosphere.
There’s been some progress:

Growth in solar, wind, and electric vehicles

Annual climate summits (COP)

In 2024, wealthier nations pledged $300 Billion a year to help developing countries adapt
But the truth? It’s not enough. Global emissions are still rising. If we stay on our current path, we’re headed for 2.5 to 2.9°C of warming by 2100, and that’s with optimistic assumptions.
What Can We Do as Individuals?
We need systemic change, no question. But that doesn’t mean individuals are powerless. Here’s what you can start with:

What You Need to Know About Climate Change

• Make your home more energy efficient.
• Consider switching to an electric vehicle, or better yet, go car-free.
• Replace gas heating with electric systems like heat pumps.
• Eat less red meat.
  These actions might feel small, but they scale. Especially when they’re paired with advocacy, voting, donating, and educating others.
  We still have a window. It’s closing, but it’s not closed. Let’s not waste it.
  Bob
  Founder, Climate Placement Project