Global warming no longer is a hypothetical problem, it is happening everywhere. It’s caused a plethora of issues for the environment, animals and even humans. Global warming is the gradual warming of the earths surface (Zott).  It is irrefutable that average yearly temperatures are the highest they’ve been in years. This is primarily to blame from carbon dioxide emissions. In the last 200 years carbon dioxide levels in the air have multiplied, causing numerous issues for the earth. The greenhouse effect is by far the most affected by carbon dioxide emissions.  Carbon dioxide clouds the atmosphere resulting in sunlight that would normally be reflected back into the atmosphere to be trapped on land, this is why the earth is warming. While it is not fully determined what part of this is due to human activity, the consensus among climate scientists is: a majority of the warming can be traced to humans. While the majority of climate change can be attributed to major cities, the effects can be seen globally. It is evident that in order to not only stop the growth of global warming, but also reverse it, education about the topic needs to be provided. It is societies responsibility to preserve the world in which they live, if continued on the pattern of carelessness the world will see extremely negative consequences. 

Global warming has been a topic of interest for decades, stirring controversy from politicians and scientists and overall the general public. The topic has become increasingly unsettling over the past few years, now that the damage is visible it’s just now starting to be seen as a ‘real’ issue. Co2 emissions are the number one cause of global warming, over the past decade emission rates have grown exponentially and are expected to continue (Canadell). In the past year alone rates have already risen 2.6 percent. A majority of climate change can be accredited to humans. Since the industrial age when coal and other fossil fuel burning became so important the environment has begun deteriorating. Co2 emissions are to blame for 82.2% of all united states greenhouse gas emissions, all of which are due to human activity. Average global temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880, although not seeming like a significant amount, this has caused numerous issues. 

Climate variability and change effects animals of all regions. The region most affected by climate change is the arctic. Arctic animals are losing their homes and places to hunt, ice in the arctic has decreased by 40 percent since the 1960’s (McLeish). Polar bears have already been deemed as a threatened species under the endangered species act due to major loss in the population due to loss of sea ice. Polar bears live near the edge of sea ice habitats in order to hunt and survive, with the ice melting their homes and place to hunt are no longer there, they are dying at an alarming rate. The melting of sea caps and land has resulted in a rise in sea levels, this creates less beaches and causes flooding in a lot of different places (Struzik). Sea turtles, which have also been deemed in danger, no longer have a plethora of beaches to choose from to lay eggs putting them at great risk of becoming extinct.  There’s a long list of animals that have gone extinct because of the change in temperature already. The rate at which temperatures are changing puts all of the animals listed to be nonexistent within the next two decades, which could totally change their entire ecosystems resulting in even more extinctions. 

Not only animals are being negatively affected by the change in temperatures, humans are too. There’s thousands of ways in which humans are being affected by this, some more obvious than others. The melting of sea ice has displaced multiple arctic families and forced them to move inland more. It has also caused these people to starve, the lack of animals near them now has decreased greatly (Koiurova). The increase of sea level has caused many cities to flood, the once popular travel destination, Florence, Italy is now completely flooded multiple times a year, causing millions in damages. By the 2080’s it is projected that millions along coasts will be at high risk to floods every single year due to sea level risings. Higher temperatures have been shown to increase the number of outbreaks of vector-borne diseases. The increasing temperature has increased numerous infectious diseases, these diseases are spread through rodents and mosquitos. The reason temperature affects these rates is because temperature speeds up the rate in which select disease causing agents mature. Higher temperatures also mean longer periods of time these organisms are active, giving them a longer season to infect.  Another huge issue climate change has put on humans is the increased number of natural disasters. The number of hurricanes, tornados and disastrous storms has increased immensely as climate change has progressed. If climate change continues on the path it’s currently on, natural disasters are only going to become more frequent, causing billions in damages and put millions of lives at risk. 

The earth itself has seen the biggest hurt in it all. The earth looks very different than it did 200 years ago. The effects of climate change can be seen anywhere you look. In big cities, thick smog covers the skies, no longer can you see stars at night.  Mountains in some areas no longer are covered in ice and snow. In 1910 in Montana, the glacier national park was covered in a little over 150 glaciers, now only 27 remain (Root 59). Coral reefs are especially sensitive to even the smallest change in temperature so in certain areas, climate change has completely reshaped the ocean ecosystems there. Coral reefs across the world have seen death rates of 50-75% of the entire population. The largest coral reef ecosystem in the world, the great barrier reef, has been dying at a startling rate, especially within the past decade. Another huge issue that is resurfacing the earth is wildfires. The increase in temperatures and lack of rain in areas of the western united states, southern Europe and central Asia to catch fire. It’s clear that this is due to climate change because the increase can be seen in areas that have no human activity such as national parks or on mountains.  Fires are wiping out miles of wildlife, trees and homes they have the potential to be completely devastating. The burning of tree’s also leads to an increase in carbon dioxide emissions resulting in a possible increase in climate change. 

Regardless of the endless scientific data to prove the existence of global warming and climate change, there still remains disbelievers. The popular argument for those that don’t believe in climate change stems from the fact that the earth has been through drastic periods of temperature changes and then leveled out naturally. An example of that is the ice age, when the earth was predominately frozen and then over time became warmer and warmer melting all the ice. Another counter to the argument of climate change is people just don’t really know what it is, thus not believing that it’s happening or worry about it happening. Another popular belief is that since the average global temperature has only risen 1.4 degrees that it’s not a big deal. The problem with believing that it’s happening naturally is that science has proven that environment responds to whatever is forcing it to react at that given moment, currently it’s human activity that is to cause. There is very little scientific data that proves that this is just something that is naturally occurring. A large amount of the population is very uneducated on this topic, few people truly understand the extent to which global warming is affecting everything. This is why the problem has progressed so far. Although temperatures have only risen 1.4 degrees globally there has been devastating effects in just about every part of the world. There has been so many unforeseen consequences of human activity and it’s undeniable that it’s affecting the earth, animals, and even humans.  

Thankfully, there can be an end put to this destruction. As the old saying goes “it takes a village” this is very true about the ending of global warming. In order to halt the warming of the earth and all the negative effects that come with drastic changes need to be made. The hardest change, but the one that will make a significant impact would be reducing the amount of carbon dioxide emissions. Reducing emission amounts as an individual will help, but in order to make a significant impact elected leaders need to make rules and regulations against companies and even just the general public about the amount of allowed emissions. This alone could dramatically reduce the rates and cut back on the amount of warming. Another great way to help is by informing, there’s a shocking amount of people who know little to nothing on the subject of global warming so providing information or implementing school programs specifically dedicated to global warming could aid in effectively reducing man made emissions that cause climate change. There’s many other ways to make changes. It’s not an issue that can be solved overnight, but the faster people start making changes is, the faster that global warming can finally come to an end. It’s going to take a lot of effort and a lot of people, but it can be done. 

The facts gathered together in this paper presents the public with a choice: continue living on the way they are with no thought of the effects and instead just live with devastating consequences, or make a serious lifestyle change and watch the earth flourish once more. The world needs to stop seeing so much disaster. Animals aren’t at fault here, but they are the ones dying at accelerating rates due to it. The world now is already being misshapen year by year due to the various consequences of global warming if continued the world will look very different by the next century. It’s all in the hands of humans to make a difference. It’s time to stop believing it’s not happening and own up to the damage everyone has caused, it’s time to make a change. 

