Think of the world like a greenhouse filled with fruit, the glass surrounding the green house like the atmosphere around us. If everything is going correctly, the greenhouse won't become too warm, and the fruit inside will grow just as it is supposed to, but if the greenhouse gets too warm, it could mean the end of all the fruit inside. The Earth is affected by Global Warming, much like the fruit is by the heat, if it gets too warm on Earth, we could all be in serious trouble. We now have a chance to create our own defining moment in the course of our future, by solving one of the world's most troubling problems. The greatest problem facing our generation is Global Warming, and although some may argue that it is not "directly" a problem for our generation, in some ways it is. Global Warming is at a "critical period" in which we have a chance to take action before the problem becomes so severe that we are unable to reverse the damage we have caused, and thus must inevitably suffer the consequences. Most people would look at Global Warming and ask "Why aren't we taking action already?" but that question is almost redundant, because in order to have any lasting effect each and every person must participate in some way. So rather than asking the question of why no action is being done, we should instead figure out our own ways to take part in the effort. We as Americans have become so accustomed to having certain people solve certain problems. When we see an environmental problem occurring, we assume that it will be solved by an environmental scientist whose job it is to do so, but what about a problem that no-one person is equipped to deal with? Our lifestyles have impacted the world around us for many years, and finally it is time for the world around us to impact our lifestyles. Without trusting in the information scientists provide us with, human emissions of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases will inevitably lead to the destruction of much of the world through worldwide flooding and temperature change.

In recent news, as well as throughout the past few years, Global Warming has been a widely controversial hot topic of debate. Although the general populace has known about the existence of Global Warming and climate change for almost a century, there has not been much discussion about the topic until recent years when it was deemed an almost immediate threat to the future of the Earth. Until such a threat had been broadcast to the public, the average person had almost no knowledge whatsoever that Global Warming even existed, let alone the fact that it could potentially change the composition of the entire Earth. The facts of Global Warming were scattered among scientific findings and outside peoples' realm of understanding and comprehension, thus no action was taken towards it, and none bothered to educate themselves on such an irrelevant topic in their eyes. Finally, scientists have increased the spread of their findings, an people are becoming more and more aware of a topic that should be placed at the front of their minds. "An Introduction to Climate Change" published by the NRDC does an exceptional job of explaining Global Warming fairly easily. As CO2, methane, and other pollutants are released into the air they get trapped in our atmosphere. These trapped gasses block the suns UV radiation and heat as they reflect off the surface of the Earth. Without allowing these rays to escape back into space the heat produced from these rays also stays trapped in Earth's atmosphere, gradually raising the temperature (NRDC). As the Earth continually warms from this phenomenon, many of the natural cycles we experience on Earth change as well, ultimately altering the climate itself. If left alone, we could potentially create a cycle in the future that even climate scientists are not sure what it would do to the rest of the world.

People may not see themselves as a contributing factor in causing these events, but in reality our everyday actions over the course of our past have added up to the major problem we now face. Every time we drive our cars, power our homes, make a new product, we are impacting our environment in irreversible ways. For the sole purposes of convenience, we are releasing massive amounts of environmentally harmful chemicals into the atmosphere and the nature around us. People like to believe that climate change can be attributed to natural events, and that "It's just the cycle of the Earth," but no longer can we blame the Earth for a problem we ourselves created (NRDC). Our own impact is now blatantly obvious, as we can see these extreme environmental changes occurring at an alarming rate first hand, yet people are still failing to take any action towards reducing their own emissions or the emissions of others. All it would take to reduce emission levels an extraordinary amount would be: carpooling to work, riding the bus, recycling plastic, riding a bike/walking. People overlook the simple things they could be doing every day that would make such a difference in the effort to recover. It may be a slight inconvenience for people to do these things, but it could prevent such a larger problem from developing in the future due to our lack of judgement.

With the vast amount of information and data taken about the Earth, people everywhere have the means to observe these changes in our environment for themselves, yet our actions do not change. While there are a variety of reasons why one would not be fully versed on the findings of Global Warming, most people are actually quite up to date on the topic, and understand what is technically happening, but what they do not understand is the combined effect of these findings. The independent facts are one thing, but as one starts to put these random facts together they begin to form something else, something much more sinister than anyone could have imagined. The more scientists try to broadcast this information to the public eye, the more that people try to deny it, try to invalidate it; while the truth may be hard to swallow, it is the truth nonetheless. People all across the U.S continue to debate the validity of our impact on Global Warming, for no reasons other than ignorance, convenience and profit. Our society has a strong reliance on things such as oil, methane, and coal which allow us to power the things around us that we have come so accustomed to. Big companies who provide us with these resources have a strong reason to argue against the Global Warming claims, with articles such as The Economist's "Is It Global Warming or Just the Weather". Articles like these funded by big businesses are created to deter belief in Global Warming in order to boost their company's own sales, at the cost of the environmental future. The article is able to highlight people's fears of unknown change, and simply attribute everything that is happening around us to things that we are used to, and that we understand. The Earth has been shown to warm greatly over a period of time before going through its own cooling cycle before humans even inhabited it (Economist). By providing people with an answer that seems to explain the problem, they stop searching for a solution and assume that everything is going to be fine. What people do not realize is that while we may have seen similar occurrences in the past, they were not to the same degree that we are seeing now, and all other factors are also unequal. 

By introducing the idea that Global Warming was not our problem, and that it was not our fault, people began to question what was true and what was false. By not trusting in the information presented by scientists, people are essentially saying that they know better than those whose career it is to study such an event. Even those who believed in the scientific information, still found ways around it being their problem, and that it should be pinned on a different person, or a different country. Although there is a great deal of evidence that proves our involvement in the warming we currently face, people refuse to accept that they are a contributor to the problem, rather they want to distance themselves from the events entirely. By putting themselves outside of the problem people feel that it is not their responsibility, rather that it is someone else's who has the time, money, power, etc. to do so. If every person acted like this who would be left? Each person regardless of standing contributed to creating this problem in various ways, so it should not be left to one person to take on this entire task, we should all put in something so we can all benefit in the end. If we hope to one day have our children experience the world like we have, society is going to have to drastically change the way we live, or our actions will ultimately lead to the destruction of the world as we know it now.

People all across the world experience these changes to our climate in a variety of ways, that are not always entirely obvious to the average person. It can be seen in the shorter winters, the hotter summers, the rising tides; the evidence of Global Warming is present all around us, we simply need to take the time to observe it for ourselves. There are many people who witness these changes, yet choose to take no action because they seem so small. While some people may not see these slight changes in the climate as an immediate threat to humans, scientists' research says otherwise. These small increases in temperature across the world over the course of many years have taken a serious toll on the remaining ice caps which play a vital role in regulating the climate across the world. In the article," NASA's 'conclusive Proof' HUMANS Cause Global Warming" by Jon Austin, one can see all of the facts that are being recorded on the topic of environmental change. Over the past 10 years, there has been a greater decrease in the size of the ice caps than the amount it decreased over the span of 100 years previous (Austin). If all of the ice covering Greenland were to melt as it is doing now, there would be so much water created that almost all of the coastal states would under water. Although a scenario like that would not take place for quite a while, there is a chance that people within our generation will live to see that day come (NRDC), and the chaos that follows. Scientists aren't trying to fool people with this information, rather they are trying to warn people of the imminent dangers that we could all be facing, as they themselves will also have to face them. The more people that trust in science to lead us in the right direction, the quicker we can start making actual progress towards a solution. 95% of scientists agree that Global Warming is real, and that humans are contributing to it (Austin), but even with this overwhelming majority, people still will not listen. It is scientist's profession to study the world around us and try to better understand our role in it, just like it is a doctor's profession to make someone better, if 95% of doctors told you that you were sick, would you still argue with them? 

In the case of Global Warming and climate change, the largest opposition being faced is the big fossil fuel companies that stand for everything harming our Earth today. Although there is a general agreement about the topic itself, some fossil fuel companies are still trying to push in the opposite direction. Fossil fuel companies have become so worried about their own job stability in the future, that they are funding their own investigations to try and disprove what we already know. One example of this 'buying out' method can be seen in the article "Fossil Fuel Funded Report Denies the Expert Global Warming Consensus" by John Abraham, where he discusses one of the articles produced by these fossil fuel companies. The fact that they are trying such a tactic does not surprise most, but what is surprising is that some scientists are actually willing to go along with it. By allowing scientists to be bought by these big companies, we are jeopardizing the study of science as a whole, how do we know who we can and cannot trust (Abraham)?  The way that some scientists see it, is that if people are reluctant to change anyway, then reports for the opposition won't make much of a difference. Other climate scientists who study Global Warming see those that work for these companies as sell outs, and that their work should not be held to the caliber that theirs is. A person who has a moderate understanding of the world around them tends to agree with the Global Warming scientists, and does not fall victim to the propaganda trap being set for them, but does their agreement actually help? While scientists generally want one to agree with them, more often than not they want people to actually do something with the information provided to them, and until everybody is able to see that, the information itself is useless.

People have always been reluctant to change, and it has been a great obstacle for us to change as much as we have already, but in order to make progress it is necessary that we continue to do so. If we as human beings cannot alter our present lifestyles in a way that lowers our reliance on fossil fuels, we are the ones who are destined to pay the price. We have lived in a life of luxury, and have enjoyed its fruits, but the longer we bask in what we have and ignore what has to be done, the less time we are left with. Ignorance is not bliss, and it will not make anything easier on us in the future, by ignoring what the world around us is saying, we are only harming ourselves and those in the future who have no say. It is time for America to wake up to the problem at hand and actually do something about it, there are no more "What if's," all that is left is "When." We have the means necessary to take action, we have to man power to make a difference, all we lack is the motivation, but without it there is nothing. Do you want to one day wake up to a world where nothing can be done, and know that you could have prevented such a thing?

