Climate Change: Will you Live to See your Grandkids?

Lauren Rusnell

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If the World keeps warming up as rapidly as it has for the last decade then that answer will most likely be no.

Rising temperatures have caused chunks of ice in the Antarctic to break apart, wildfire seasons to last months and months longer than usual, coral reefs to bleach their color, and the spread of diseased mosquitoes.

The cause of this is us. We as a society are the reason the world is heating up so rapidly. We are the ones that burn fossil fuels and cut down forests, and that is detrimental to the survival of the Earth. The Earth has already warmed up 1.8 degrees, since the 19th Century. We are slowly on our way to 2.5 degrees.

Why do that 0.7 degrees have such a detrimental effect on our Earth you may ask.

More heat leads to more evaporation which then leads to more moisture within the Earth’s atmosphere. This puts our agriculture, health and water supply at a greater risk. The more moisture we have in the atmosphere increases the amount of rainfall we get. Hurricanes with more rainfall are more vigorous and damaging. Our cities and farms get flooded, damaging homes and our crop fields. It’s like a domino effect, everything leads to another. So that 0.7-degree increase has a huge effect even though the numbers may seem small.

The heating of the ocean affects our wildlife as well. The ocean is a vital part of our lives. Our every day revolves around the ocean, whether you may know it or not. The ocean has absorbed over 90% of the heat from climate change and over 30% of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions. This increased ocean acidification. In fact, we have increased the ocean’s acidity 50 times faster with carbon dioxide pollution than we have in 800,000 years in the past. This is a big deal and we cannot bypass these issues.

This is not the end. If we are properly educated about the effects of climate change and aware of the things we are putting into the earth’s atmosphere, I guarantee our concern and willingness to help will increase dramatically. There are several charities you can donate too. You can start carpooling, you can see what part you play in the heating up of the earth. It all starts will a step. Take that step and save our animals, our plants, our oceans, OURSELVES.

Coral reefs are suffering, sea animals’ habitats are changing and heating up. Our own lives are at risk. Are you going to sit there and watch our own world burn up right before your eyes, or are you going to take action and take back your beautiful earth, take back your life? It’s up to YOU.