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A Guide to Understanding & Acting on Climate Change
What is Climate Change?
Climate change refers to long-term, significant shifts in the Earth's average temperatures and weather patterns. These changes can occur naturally due to things like solar cycles or volcanic eruptions. But today, the rapid pace of warming is driven almost entirely by human activity, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, large-scale deforestation, and industrial processes. These actions release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, trapping heat and warming the planet at a rate never seen before.
Five Major Causes of Climate Change
Burning Fossil Fuels
Coal, oil, and natural gas are used for electricity, transportation, and industry. When burned, they release large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that trap heat and warm the planet. In 2024, global temperatures passed the critical 1.5C milestone for the first time. Fossil fuels are responsible for approximately 68% of global greenhouse gas emissions and about 90% of all carbon emissions, according to the United Nations. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has confirmed that fossil fuels are the primary driver of climate change.
Deforestation
Forests absorb CO₂ and store carbon in their trees and soil. When forests are cut down or burned for agriculture, development, or logging, that stored carbon is released back into the atmosphere—while also eliminating one of our most important natural carbon sinks.
Industrialization
Factories release a variety of greenhouse gases, including CO₂, methane (CH₄), and fluorinated gases, many of which are extremely powerful heat-trapping chemicals. These emissions occur during the production of cement, plastics, steel, chemicals, and everyday goods.
Agriculture & Livestock
Cattle release methane, a greenhouse gas far more powerful than CO₂. Fertilizers emit nitrous oxide, and rice paddies generate methane, all contributing significantly to global warming.
Landfills
Landfills release methane when organic materials break down, and the creation and disposal of many products, especially plastics, add further greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
Why Does Climate Change Matter?
Climate change matters because it touches every part of our lives; our health, our safety, our food, our homes, and our future. At the WIL, we believe in Healing Ourselves, Healing Each Other, and Healing the Planet, and climate change sits at the center of all three. As the planet warms, the impacts we face become more severe and more interconnected. Climate change is often called a “threat-multiplier” because it intensifies existing challenges. Communities with limited resources, weaker infrastructure, or existing health burdens are hit first and hardest. Low-income regions, Indigenous nations, and people living in climate-sensitive environments face disproportionate risks, from extreme weather to food shortages to economic instability.
How Does Climate Change Affect Us?
Climate change is already reshaping daily life around the world. Rising temperatures are driving more extreme heat, making outdoor work dangerous and increasing wildfire risks, especially in rapidly warming regions like the Arctic. Warmer air also fuels stronger storms, bringing heavier rainfall, flooding, and costly damage to homes and infrastructure. At the same time, many regions are facing worsening droughts that dry out crops, weaken forests, and expand deserts. These shifts are putting immense pressure on ecosystems, with nearly one million species at risk of extinction due to heat, habitat loss, and climate-driven pests. Our food systems are also vulnerable as crops fail, fisheries decline, and traditional hunting and herding practices are disrupted. Climate change is now a major global health threat as well, contributing to air pollution, the spread of disease, mental health stress, and injuries from extreme weather, adding to the millions of lives lost each year from environmental causes.