The fundamentals: understanding the climate change crisis

This is the first of a series of nine commentaries, each of which is designed to stand alone but when read as a whole provide a broad overview of the status of the intersection between digestive health and climate change. The nine commentaries encapsulate a 9-webinar open-access climate course hosted by the World Gastroenterology Organisation March–June 2023.1 Climate change fundamentals The atmosphere is a thin layer of gaseous material which surrounds the earth, mostly within 10 km of the earth surface. Shortwave energy from the sun passes through it and heats the oceans and the surface of the earth, which thus emit infrared radiation. Much of this infrared radiation escapes into space, but some is trapped, increasing the kinetic energy of greenhouse gas (GHG) molecules that include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, fluorinated gases and lower atmospheric ozone. GHG differ in their potency regarding atmospheric heating.

Source: Gut - November 24, 2023 Category: Gastroenterology Authors: Leddin, D., Montgomery, H. Tags: Editor's choice, Gut Commentary Source Type: research