Climate Change must be stopped

By: Elwenn P.

       Over the past century the health of our planet has slowly deteriorated due to global warming. Many people know this but still don’t know how it affects them. Climate change is the cause of many problems on earth. Climate change causes global warming, rising sea levels, severe storms, increased drought, extinction of species and many other significant problems. The intergovernmental panel of climate change has even stated that, "climate change is a threat to human wellbeing and the health of the planet. Any further delay in concerted global action will miss the brief, rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future."

       Around the 1970s the Great Barrier Reef in Australia was one of the most beautiful places on earth. Thousands of species of colorful and unique coral, fish and mammals thrived together. The balanced ecosystem was a safe haven for many species, where they were able to live in harmony with humans. Now, just 50 years later, that same reef is dying. 91% of the coral is bleached or dead, fish populations have dropped over 70%, and the mammals are rapidly losing their sources of food. What happened? Climate change. 

       The Intergovernmental panel on climate change isn’t the only one recording changes in the climate. NASA and the NOAA have also recorded that global temperatures have risen 1.8 degrees fahrenheit from 1901 to 2020. They have also recorded sea levels rising, glaciers melting, arctic ice depleting, and all these things are happening at alarmingly fast rates.    

       To understand how big this problem is you first have to understand what climate change is, and how it happens. Climate change happens when people burn fossil fuels, like coal, oil or gasoline. These fossil fuels create a lot of greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide. The greenhouse gasses get trapped in the atmosphere and pile up to create a layer of gas between the sun and the earth. Then when the sun shines and heats up the earth, the heat gets trapped in the layer of greenhouse gasses and can't escape the atmosphere. Over time the surface of the earth gets hotter and hotter until it is irreversible. This phenomenon is called the greenhouse effect, and the greenhouse effect causes global warming, one of the many things that cause climate change.

       Climate change is currently affecting the natural world, and it has caused many habitats to die. These habitats include coral reefs, mangroves, wetlands, and several different types of forests. This has left many species to become endangered. Polar Bears, Ringed Seals, Monarch Butterflies and Koalas are some of the animals that are being driven to extinction because of this. One species that has already gone extinct because of global warming is the Bramble Cay melomys. The mammal's habitat was a small island off the coast of Queensland, Australia. They depended on the leafy shrubbery for shelter and food. The vegetation on their small island was killed by the rising sea levels, leaving them completely defenseless. 

       Now that climate change is affecting animals, it won’t take long for it to start affecting humans; in fact, it already has. Climate change causes more natural disasters (heatwaves, wildfires, tropical storms, etc.), which take more than 90,000 human lives a year. Bad air quality can also cause diseases such as strokes, aggravated asthma, lung cancer and other respiratory problems. It has also been affecting communities in irreversible ways. The NOAA states that, “Nearly 40% of the United States population lives in coastal counties, meaning millions of people will be impacted by sea level rise.” They even state that, “Some communities are projected to possibly end up at or below sea level by 2100.”

       The window of time left to stop climate change is rapidly closing, and many people aren’t doing anything about it. To stop climate change humans need to reduce their carbon and fossil fuel emission. This means stopping factories from mass producing, but realistically there isn’t much one person can do to stop big factories. Instead of waiting for the impact of climate change to start becoming irreversible, do something. Things you change in your own lifestyle to help include eating less meat and dairy, not flying as often, using your car less, reducing your electric usage, recycling whatever you can, and respecting natural spaces, such as public parks, forests, and lakes.

       Climate change is one of the biggest problems worldwide. It has affected millions of people, and it won’t stop. Even if it means sacrificing small luxuries, it will all be worth it, even if progress takes years, decades or even centuries to see. If humanity could bond together and try to solve this problem the generations of the furthest future might just be able to live together on a healthier planet.