Climate change and its dangerous implications on our planet has been a claim you’ve heard time and time again. By now, some would find it an annoyance rather than a grave reminder about the danger it brings about. Perhaps it is simply a way for scientists to flail around their doomsday clock warning you about something that is coming fast. But have we actually ever seen any indication of such threat? We are meant to worry! About what exactly?
Personally, I never really believed in climate change being an imminent threat to our planet. It always seemed like an over exaggeration with no basis in reality. That was, until I put in some effort to actually research this issue. I will not obfuscate or push you towards living in fear about this issue, but I would at least ask that you read what I have to say. If it is not something that you end up caring about, it will at least provide an insight into what is arguably one of the most pertinent and interesting problems that is plaguing our planet.
To start, let’s define what climate change actually is. According to NASA, climate change is “a change in the usual weather found in a place. This could be a change in how much rain a place usually gets in a year. Or it could be a change in a place’s usual temperature for a month or season. Climate change is also a change in Earth’s climate. This could be a change in Earth’s usual temperature. Or it could be a change in where rain and snow usually fall on Earth. Weather can change in just a few hours. Climate takes hundreds or even millions of years to change” (NASA, 2014). I believe that the last two sentences of that definition provide the most important insight into what climate change is and why we might not be noticing it, despite it being such a major problem. It is a simple, yet vital distinction that separates two correlated, but not necessarily similar aspects together. The National Ocean Service makes the distinction clearer by separating them as follows: “Weather reflects short-term conditions of the atmosphere while climate is the average daily weather for an extended period of time at a certain location” (NOAA). There might be the occasional heat wave that comes around during wintertime in certain areas or vice versa, but that is not what the scientists are warning against. These are simply small signs of things to come. When thinking of climate change, think of a major, nearly never-ending heat wave in Alaska or constant snowstorms in Texas.
So still, the question remains, why aren’t we seeing these any of these changes in our every day lives? Well, we are! A direct result of climate change is the concept of global warming. It is a gradual, yet noticeable increase in the temperature for the worst. According to an article by Vox documenting the weather shift since 1986, we see this gradual warming that also provides insight into how things will look in the future. For instance, Alaska experienced one of its hottest summers in July 2019 (Irfan et al.). These gradual heat waves are estimated to affect the planet on a global scale, and they’ll only get worse and worse, to the point of reaching levels that are considered deadly to humans. In fact, we see a hint of these deadly heat waves even now! In June of this year, a deadly heat wave swept across the western region of the United States, killing hundreds in its wake (SEIBT, 2021).
However, where global warming is really taking effect is in one of the most important regions of the planet: The Arctic. Such a far and inhospitable place that at first glance, may seem unimportant to everywhere else around the planet, but that is not the case. The Arctic serves a purpose, and it is to act as the earth’s global air conditioner. Anything that affects the arctic indirectly or directly affects us. According to the New York Times, The Arctic is an area that is surrounded by ocean, and the ocean surrounding it absorbs and takes in all the sunlight (Fountain). This was not always a bad thing, but currently, with these incredibly hot temperatures, the ice in The Arctic is melting at an unprecedented rate. This ice typically serves as a reflective shield that directly reflects the heat. And because the ice is melting without much way to reflect the incoming heat, this means that there are noticeably more heatwaves across the rest of the planet. According to the World Wildlife Fund, “Polar ice caps are melting as global warming causes climate change. We lose Arctic Sea ice at a rate of almost 13% per decade, and over the past 30 years, the oldest and thickest ice in the Arctic has declined by a stunning 95%” (WWF).
At this rate, the scientists are not exaggerating when they are saying that climate change and global warming are global catastrophes waiting to happen. They are justified in their reactions, and although you might not notice it as significantly now or in your lifetime, think about the state that you will leave the planet on for the future generations that will inhabit it.
That’s right, it is you and I who are to blame for climate change and global warming. It is everyone who is currently inhabiting this planet. But let’s face it, no one likes taking the blame for something they seemingly have no control over. I happen to agree with that sentiment as well. It is unjustifiable for the scientists to wag their finger at us, even if that is the reality of the situation. Still, it is at least important for us to know why they are wagging their fingers at us and blaming us for something that is seemingly beyond our control.
The fact is, the simple act of us driving ourselves to go to work and even something simpler like smoking the occasional cigarette is directly related to why we are witnessing such major developments in climate change and global warming. More specifically, they are what scientists refer to as Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Greenhouse Gas emissions.
This is related to the concept of “burning fossil fuel.” It is defined as, “The burning of oil, natural gas, and coal to generate energy. We use this energy to generate electricity, and to power transportation (for example, cars and planes) and industrial processes” (UGC). In more understandable terms, this is a deeply ingrained flaw in societies around the globe. These scientists aren’t blaming us as people inhabiting Earth, instead, they are blaming the human machinations and infrastructure that are at this point, a simple part of daily living. If you’ve ever travelled by plane someplace, then you are technically contributing to climate change; If you ever drove to work, you are technically contributing to climate change, and if you’ve ever decided to charge your phone or laptop, then you are technically contributing to climate change. The point of all this isn’t to point fingers at you as specific individual people, instead, it is to show just how ingrained the main factor contributing to climate change is in our everyday lives.
Trying to pin the blame on climate change is simply an illogical and pointless feat because anyone can be blamed! We can blame corporations for using factories, our own neighbors for driving their car to work or ourselves for any of the aforementioned reasons. So instead of focusing on the blame, I believe the solution should be the key focus.
Thinking about the solution at face value, the answer might seem simple to identify, but difficult to actually implement. We could stop using our cars for instance. But is that really a viable solution? We all have errands to run and work to get to, and without a car, that would turn these menial tasks into difficult prospects. Many of us have or are planning to have families as well, so without phones, cars, and things that seem to contribute to climate change, we simply cannot function well enough to support them. In fact, even if we did decide to stop using these greenhouse gas emitters, how are we to know that people in other places are doing the same? After all, one or even one million people changing and adapting their habits to support our planet is still not enough to combat climate change and global warming.
I think the solution is a lot simpler than that. To start, you need to think locally. Do not try and think about this issue on a global scale because it will seem fruitless to solve. Whether you live in a massive state like California or a city like Seattle, the answer is to always think locally. Who surrounds you? Which senator represents you? Who is your mayor? What are the greenhouse gas emission rates of your small locality? It is this mindset that will yield the best results when combating climate change and global warming. Like how The Arctic, a seemingly small part of this massive planet seems to have the most effect on our planet’s climate, a small local town might do the same as well. Think of it as a ripple effect. It is related to adaptation. If the United States slowly starts adapting to a new standard that works to mitigate the effects of climate change without hurting its citizens, then the same might affect other countries around the globe. For our part, we must hold our country accountable, and not the people who specifically inhabit it.
This is also partly contradictory considering I preached about how we should not pin the blame on anyone, but I think it is a lot more apt to call it holding those in power accountable. If a politician ever preaches about how climate change is an issue that needs an imminent solution, always inquire about this solution. The solution should not come at the expense of us as citizens. Even if we contribute our efforts, always ask, what are major corporations doing as well? We can’t blame each other but knowing who is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions is important. According to The Guardian, “more than half of global industrial emissions since 1988 can be traced back to just 25 corporate and state-owned entities” (Riley). That is allegedly 71% of global emissions. Again, I believe that this is less pinning the blame and more holding accountable. After all, they are the ones in positions to make a major difference.
I hope that this provided an insightful read into what is arguably the biggest issue that is plaguing our planet currently. It is only going to get amplified as the years go on. It is easy and pointless to point fingers at who is responsible, but it is much more difficult and fruitful to think about how we can solve it. I don’t expect you to sell your car and live-in seclusion in a forest after reading this because the reality is, that won’t solve anything. The solution is to think smaller, think local and to think of actually viable methods that do not compromise our everyday living. Perhaps it is voting for people who take climate change as one of their priorities or donating a buck or two to organizations that have a focus on finding solutions to climate change, be it by pressuring corporations to stop burning fossil fuel at such an alarming rate or by perhaps acting as lobbyists to legislators. It is in these small and incremental steps that I believe we will find the best solution to minimize our impact on the planet’s climate.
Works Cited
“Burning of Fossil Fuels.” Understanding Global Change, ugc.berkeley.edu/background-content/burning-of-fossil-fuels.
Fountain, Henry. “How Bad Is Climate Change Now?” The New York Times, 15 June 2020, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/19/climate/climate-crash-course-1.html.
Hancock, Lorin. “Six Ways Loss of Arctic Ice Impacts Everyone | Pages | WWF.” World Wildlife Fund, www.worldwildlife.org/pages/six-ways-loss-of-arctic-ice-impacts-everyone.
Irfan, Umair, et al. “Climate Change Will Make America Much Warmer by 2050. See How These US Cities Will Change.” Vox.Com, 19 July 2019, www.vox.com/a/weather-climate-change-us-cities-global-warming.
Riley, Tess. “Just 100 Companies Responsible for 71% of Global Emissions, Study Says.” The Guardian, 10 July 2017, www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jul/10/100-fossil-fuel-companies-investors-responsible-71-global-emissions-cdp-study-climate-change.
Seibt, Sébastian. “Deadly North American Heat Wave Tests the Limits of Climate Change Models.” France 24, 9 July 2021, www.france24.com/en/environment/20210709-deadly-north-american-heat-wave-tests-the-limits-of-climate-change-models.
“What Is Climate Change?” NASA, 14 May 2014, www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-climate-change-k4.html.
“What Is the Difference between Weather and Climate?” National Ocean Service, 26 Feb. 2021, oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/weather_climate.html.
