Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome!

Hello everyone! Woohoo!

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog!! This is my first experience at blogging and I'm sure it will be a great one. My name is Cecile Mezzera and I think of myself as a very cheerful and enthusiastic person. I always have a lot of energy and I'm usually very amazed by the wonders of this world.

Back home, in Uruguay, people always think of me as the third little person in the following comic (translations below):

1- A pessimist: "A glass half empty."
2- An optimist: "A glass half full!"
3- A great optimist: "A glass!!! I can't believe it!!! It's a glass!!!"

That's me! Nice to meet you!!


Professionally speaking, I did my undergraduate in Mathematics in Uruguay and I am now studying the MSc Environmental Modelling at UCL. So, this means I know about math and general relativity but know absolutely nothing about the environment and geographical issues. I am completely new to this, and I'm assuming my readers will be as well.

I want to aim my education towards surface water modelling, or coastal change. So, why am I writing this blog on climate change? Because people say it is the biggest problem humanity has ever encountered, and I don't know anything about it!


So, is it really the biggest problem we have encountered? Before we answer this question let's state some information given by NASA.

In 1950 the level of atmospheric CO2 was the highest it's ever been for 650,000 years, and has been rising ever since, as you can see in the graphic below.

Taken from NASA

Taking this into account, here are a few fun facts:

1. In 2013 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that the emission of CO2, mainly through fossil fuel combustion, is the largest driver for global warming. 
2. The average temperature of the Earth's surface has increased 0.6°C in the last 30 years. 
3. Studies have said we can not have a 2°C increase in the average temperature over the pre-industrial average if we want to avoid catastrophic climate change. 

Everything considered, you can see this is a problematic fact!!!

This is such a problematic fact that many people are actually saying that in their personal opinion, climate change is a lost battle. This is one of the biggest debates nowadays. Obviously, being as optimistic as I am, I'm not willing to agree with this statement. From my ignorance, I think there surely is some hope left for us.

So, enough light talking. Let's set our objectives, so we can address them in depth in future posts. These include:

• To give evidence of climate change.
• To learn about projections of climate change and understand why is it so important to act rapidly.
• To study the different solutions that reduce climate change, along with their pros and cons. 
• With all the above information, generate a valid opinion about the climate change discussion. Is climate change really a lost battle?

But, most importantly,

• To enjoy ourselves while doing it!!

See you in a couple of days! Feel free to contact me or post any comment/questions!

:)