Environment expert: Climate change spells need to alter, adapt actions
Estonia also needs to make ready for extreme weather conditions, adviser at he Environment Agency (Keskkonnaagentuur) Kai Rosin says.
In order to mitigate climate change, people need to alter their actions, while at the same time adapting to new circumstances, Rosin told ETV current affairs show "Ringvaade Suvel" Tuesday.
Many regions of Southern Europe are at present experiencing some exceptionally hot weather, posting record monthly and daily temperature values. "We can't get either over or around the fact that the climate has changed, events like this are a plague," Rosin said.
Rosin added that forecasts predict hot summers over the next five-year period. "Since we have climate change, but we also have an El Niño phase, which is a time where warming naturally occurs too."
While Estonia is at a more northerly latitude than the parts of Europe in focus, "When talking about human-made climate change, it is clear that we will not be getting any colder here in the coming years," she added.
Rosin added that while the scientists are 100 percent convinced that climate change is human-made, there is also a natural component to rises in global temperatures which cannot be ignored.
In southern Europe, several countries and regions, for instance the Greek island of Rhodes, are currently experiencing large-scale wildfires. According to Rosin, we also have to be prepared for this eventuality in Estonia, as there can be long periods of hot and dry weather here, too.
"We talk about reducing greenhouse gases. And if we talk at the human level, everyone can do it. Let's start with the fact that consumer behavior plays a big role, how people consume everything, starting with the vehicles they drive, buying food, clothes, energy consumption. People can to take small steps to move towards mitigating climate change."
And the other side is that people also have to adapt. And we can't prevent all of these changes. Inevitably, the climate will change, and today it's changing in the direction that it's becoming more dangerous for us. People have to be prepared for that. People's awareness also needs to be raised," Rosin added.
Rosin added that with every half-degree rise in temperature, already hazardous weather phenomena become even more dangerous.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Merili Nael
Source: 'Ringvaade Suvel', interviewer Anna Pihl.