Global Warming

Global Warming

By: Jasmin S

Image source from GlobalChange.gov

Global warming is an issue that has been around for a very long time. Global warming is the increase of temperature of the Earth. We are currently now seeing the effects of it with the dramatic changes in the weather. As described in "Global Climate Change - Vital Signs of the Planet" by NASA, "On Earth, human activities are changing the natural greenhouse. Over the last century the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil has increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2)... To a lesser extent, the clearing of land for agriculture, industry, and other human activities has increased concentrations of greenhouse gases." The amount of CO2 has been increasing and there is more of it now than ever which is contributing the changes of the climate (view graph below). The way that life is on Earth, it was designed to withstand the environment that naturally has occurred and when it starts to change, life as we know it gets affected by it. A big example of this is the melting of the polar ice caps. 

Image source from climate.nasa.gov

Not only is global warming bad for the planet as a whole, but we are being affected as well. For the people who live in California for example, the changing of the climate will increase the amount of droughts which is already being experienced. This will have a major impact of the food, life, and water supply. The sea levels will also rise, and there is an increase of forest fires. As written in "Climate Change: Impacts on Society," from GlobalChange.gov, "Climate Change affects human health and wellbeing through more extreme weather events and wildfires, decreased air quality, and diseases transmitted by insects, food, and water. Climate disruptions to agriculture have been increasing and are projected to become more severe over this century, a trend that would diminish the security of America's food supply. Surface and groundwater supplies in some regions are already stressed, and water quality is diminishing in many areas, in part due to increasing sediment and contaminant concentrations after heavy downpours." All of these negative affects are already causing trouble for people as well as irreversibly destroying our Earth which has all been caused by human activity. 

Global warming does not just have an effect on me, but on everyone and everything that lives on planet Earth. Living in California, I have already felt the effects of global warming with the dramatic climate changes and droughts. It is not just the issue of human activity harming the Earth, but also that there are people who still do not care or refuse to believe it to be a real issue when it is. This issue is very important to me because I care about my environment and it's frustrating to hear people say it is not true when there is clearly evidence proving that it is a real thing that is happening, and has been happening for a long time. The Earth is changing, and will continue to change but what we can do now as a society is to bring awareness to people, and emphasize how important this is. It is already having a significant change during our time and it will only get worse from here. As beings that live on this planet, the very least we could do is try to help with what we can. 

I am not the only one who feels this way, there are many others who do too:

"I think global warming is getting scary for everyone. We have seen so many climate changes all over the world and we don't know what the future generations might have to deal with. I hope that the researchers can find out how to slow it down and educate people about it and preserve our precious Earth."

- Guadalupe V. 

"It's important that we talk about it instead of acting like it doesn't exist. It's definitely affecting our planet and we aren't doing enough to stop it. Especially with a president that doesn't believe it exists, it's a problem for sure."

- Jasmine T.

"So from what I know, the fight for global warming has been going on for decades, however, people at the top don't want to do anything, since they profit from the industries that lead to climate change. Even if we did anything nowadays, we're still screwed. All we could do is try to put our extinction off for a little bit longer. Even if we stopped everything today, it's too late."

- Ana G. 

Citations

"Global Climate Change - Vital Signs of the Planet." NASA, 2019, https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/. Accessed 16 Mar. 2019. 

"Climate Change: Impacts on Society." GlobalChange.gov, https://www.globalchange.gov/climate-change/impacts-society. Accessed 16 Mar. 2019.