In today’s world we are facing many problems as a whole, and one of those problems is climate change. The weather and the climate are two different things. Weather is what we see and feel changing outside every day. On the other hand, the climate is what the weather is usually for a specific place. With both of these they can obviously change, which is where the phrase climate change comes in. Climate change is causing the Earths over all temperature to rise and scientist have written that if the Earth stays on the track it is on now its calling for global warming of more than seven degrees Celsius in a lifetime, which they say could be considered “game over” (Johnston). The greenhouse effect is what keeps planet earth at a steady temperature, “Without this effect, the Earth would be about 30C colder, making our planet hostile to life (“What”).” What scientist have found is that we as humans are adding to the greenhouse effect by all the pollution we are putting into the air and helping to increase the temperature. The constant increase and decrease of temperature is having direct and indirect impacts on humans and we are becoming more prone to diseases, not only are we helping to cause it we are being affected by it. Again, in today’s world climate change is a big issue and we as humans are not only helping to cause it but are being affected by it. 

The first thing people need to know when it comes to climate change is the greenhouse effect and what it is. “The greenhouse effect refers to the way the Earth’s atmosphere traps some of the energy from the Sun (“What”).” The solar energy from the Earth’s surface that radiates back to space is what the atmospheric greenhouse absorbs and sends it back in all directions. The lower atmosphere and the surface are heated by the energy that radiated back to Earth. This is what, I have already said, keeps the Earth from being about 30C colder. Which means this is the most important process we need to have continuously going on so that we are able to continue life and this planet. Everything that is going on in this process is all natural and the gasses are all natural gasses too. The gasses that contribute to the greenhouse effect are water vapor, Carbon dioxide, Methane, and Nitrous oxide. All of this becomes a problem when you add humans to the mix. When we are continuously adding pollution to our air we are not helping. “pollutants and greenhouse gasses collect in the atmosphere and absorb sunlight and solar radiation that have bounced off the earth’s surface (MacMillan).” Instead of the radiation then escaping into space, the pollutants are trapping the heat which is causing the planet to get hotter. The greenhouse effect is to help keep the planet and a somewhat normal temperature and when the air is clean this is able to happen. Since the air today is not clean and is continuing to gain more and more pollution and toxins the effect is not working correctly and it is causing Earth’s temperature to rise more and more. 

The definition of climate change is, “the change in the usual weather found in a place (NASA).” This could be considered by a few different things like how much rain a specific place gets or if the temperature has changed for a specific month, season, or year. Also it is the changes that occur on earth as a whole like, the temperature of earth rising or falling, and where rain or snow fall. The weather is always changing but the climate takes hundreds or maybe even millions of years to change, which is bad considering ours has changed a lot. The earth’s temperature has now gone up about one degree Fahrenheit within the last 100 years, but the smallest changes in the Earth’s temperature can have a big effect. The average temperature of the earth today is 15C, but evidence shows that the earth has been higher and lower in the past. Recently the problem has been that the warming is currently more rapid than many past events. “Scientist are concerned that the natural fluctuation, or variability, is being overtaken by a rapid human-induced warming that has serious implications for the stability of the planet’s climate (“What”).” The increasing in Earth’s temperature is causing some high-profile climate changes, here are some examples. The frozen water on earth is melting. When the ice is melting and adding to the water the sea levels are continuing to rise way higher than they should be, making storm surges much more dangerous and capable of much more. Also, this increasing temperature is causing heat waves to become more common throughout the world. Dry places are continuing to get dryer and in areas where this is common they are beginning to have an increase in droughts and wildfires. A final example is, the oceans water is getting hotter and expanding, which is making it more acidic. Since the ocean absorbs 90 percent of the earths extra heat the oceans are expanding because of water vapor adding to the rising sea levels. Since about a third of carbon dioxide emissions are in the ocean a chemical change is occurring making it 40 percent more acidic than it used to be. Which is causing sea creatures shells to dissolve and taking away corals colors. This is how climate change is working and what it is doing to our planet. The climate can be more normal and healthier if we just tried to help. 

Many things can cause the climate to change on its own, but many people think that the main cause of climate change is humans, and in fact it is. The number one sources of heat-trapping pollution is the burning of fossil fuels to make electricity, which produces about two billion tons of CO2 a year. The biggest polluters are coal-burning power plants, then the second largest carbon pollution is transportation. All of these gasses are being put into our air which goes with the greenhouse effect, causing the earth to heat up. Everyone drives, uses air and heaters, and makes food. These are all things that are using coal, oil, and gases that are being put into our air by everyone every day. All of the gasses we are putting into the air are reacting to the sunlight and heat and are making it even hotter adding the ground level ozone. The smog we see in the air is the ground level ozone and it is literally dirty air, that we can usually not see, but when it’s so dirty we see it as a cloud of fog/smog in front of us. We first hand as humans are destroying our planet. Everyone is knowingly and willingly putting chemicals into our air. Which this is like a domino effect, you do one thing and it just adds to something else creating another problem. we should be the ones trying to make this climate better instead of worse since we are the ones who are living in it, but we are not seeing that happening. 

Like Melissa Denchak said, “Change can only happen when individuals take action.” She also said that our climates biggest enemy is carbon dioxide and it is released in to the air when we burn fuels from out houses, cars, and phones. Denchak also, gave a list of a dozen ways we can each of us can help make a difference. First way is, we can speak up. Talking to people you know and making them more aware about this problem will add to the people who will begin to try and make more environmentally friendly decisions. Using renewable energy to power your homes, like finding a new and better company that uses more wind and sunlight to power their energy. Making sur that your heating and cooling systems are working in the most efficient way possible and that you are not just wasting energy. Invest in appliances that are energy-efficient when looking for a new refrigerator, washer or dryer machine, etc. Reducing the amount of water, we use every day will help with more than just the pollution, so watch how long your shower or wash dishes and make sure not to leave the water on. Making sure you only buy the amount of food you are going to eat and not waiting as well as buying less meats will cut back on energy consumption. Buying LED lightbulbs will help save 80 percent more of wasteful energy. Another big thing that everyone does and most likely is doing at this moment is not unplugging useless plugs from there outlets all around their house. Keeping so many plugs plugged in at all times is using so much unnecessary energy when all you have to do is unplug and power down. Changing your car to a more ‘fuel-efficient’ car will help reduce the gas fumes that are in the air. One very easy thing that everyone can do that she also found was, that if everyone kept their car tires fully inflated we would be able to save a large amount of gas every day because our cars can go further and last longer for each gallon with fully inflated tires. If you are considering moving, it would be environmentally smart to move somewhere that is walking distance from most things you need to go to. That way you are able to cut back on driving and wasting your gas and/ or someone else’s gas. And finally, you can purchase carbon offsets, “which represent clean power that you can add to the nation’s energy grid in place of power from fossil fuels (“How”).” There are so many little things that we can all do in our everyday lives to help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide we produce and allow in to our air. 

We do not usually go outside and breath in the fresh air and think this could be killing me but in reality we should think about that. In another one of Melissa Denchak’s articles she wrote, “Today’s scientist point to climate change as ‘the biggest global health threat of the 21st century.” This is effecting many of us, but mostly children, elders, low income communities, and minorities (Denchak). As the temperature continues to rise we continue to see more illnesses, trips to the hospital, and even deaths. For many people who do not have air conditioners because they can afford them are suffering from the week-long of unbearable heat that does not cool even at night and we are seeing more and more deaths from heat related incidences. When it comes to the increasing climate change we are facing we are not the only ones who are and are going to be suffering from it. This is something that is effecting everything on earth and our plants and animals are decreasing in size and places from this as well. The habitats are changing faster than out plants and animals can adopt to them which is killing off many of them. Since we are losing so many of them it is effecting us by increasing our chances of malaria, water-borne diseases, and malnutrition. Our farmers are suffering from not knowing. Our climate has become so unpredictable that farmers are trying to keep up with it but really cannot. They are unable to predict how much water supply they are going to have and how much they are going to need. Also the smog that we that is in our air that we are inhaling is irritation our lungs, and triggers asthma attacks (“Climate”). Since the temperature is rising the amount of wildfires are increasing as well adding even more pollution to our air and lungs. Diseases and contaiminated drinking water are more likely since our fresh water is sitting their heating up and grow more and more diseases which is also linked to our plants and animals dying. Our health, our food supply, our plants and animals, and our earth as a whole is being destroyed by climate change and we do not seem to care as much as we should. 

With every argument there is always two sides to it. When dealing with the topic of climate change there is a big and well known side to it that, our president Donald Trump does not think it is an issue. President Donald Trump took us away from the Paris treaty that was helping us to avoid major climate changes. He thinks that there are way more bigger issues on the world that we should be dealing with before the climate changing and not wasting money on that. Scientist did a study to compare 1,540 Americans’ on what their view point on climate change was. Their results were very simple. The ones who do not believe climate change is a big issue or they did not care about the issues were less educated people. These people did not have highly educated jobs or did not really know much about climate change at all so they did not really care. On the other hand, the ones who did view climate change as a issue that we are facing were those who are in a work force that is related to climate change are seem to be more educated. And these people said, “Therefore, bombarding the other side with scientific facts will not change their minds (Berreby).” Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but when their opinion is to effect the well-being of Earth it is important that they become more educated on the topic and look into the other point of view and consider why others think the way they do. 

Climate change as a whole is something we as humans living on this earth right now should be concerned about and should be watching. The world is always changing and developing into new things and everywhere that you go will be different. One thing that every place on this earth has in common and will always have in common is the climate that we share. If the climate is changing for the worst in one place it is doing the same in another place. There are so many little things everyone can do on their own every day that would help us get closer to a normal climate temperature, but in order for this kind of change to happen everyone around us needs to be aware of what is going on and what they are doing and can do to change it. Talking to people around us and showing examples of what you are doing is all it could take to make this climate a better and healthier one. Next time you go outside to get some fresh air really think about what you are breathing in and putting into your body and maybe then you and other can realize what is happening and how important it is to try and change this. 
