The Earth is being poisoned. Global climate change already has an observable effect on the environment with an increase of extreme weather events taking place, glaciers shrinking faster than usual, plant and animal ranges shifting, and even trees flowering earlier in the season. Every day, alarming amounts of toxins are being released into the atmosphere so that the scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unmistakable. There is no way of denying the many graphs and statistics, earth-orbiting satellites and other technological advances that have enabled scientists to see the big picture, that this body of data, collected over many years, is revealing the signals of a changing climate. What is our best option to help take action?

More than ever, it is important now to take a stand. With the recent new election of the President came his beliefs and thoughts on global climate change. Since our current President does not believe in the climate change occurring all around us, he will not take the proper actions to stop the disaster. The President’s beliefs are so influential that individuals may now be swayed to not believe in climate change at all, which is the last thing we need in this dire time. President Trump will take the most significant step yet in destroying the former President’s environmental record by instructing federal regulators to rewrite key rules curbing U.S. carbon emissions. The order seeks to lift a law on requirement that federal officials consider the impact of climate change when making decisions. While our previous president fought to weave climate considerations into every aspect of the federal government, our new one is now hoping to rip that approach right out of its roots. The President’s new plan of accelerating fossil-fuel production on native lands with his plan of the Dakota pipeline and deforestation could easily lead to higher emissions of the greenhouse gases that are driving climate change as well as complicate the global effort to curb the world’s carbon output.Therefore, it is up to us, the people, to make a change ourselves. Now, not only do we have the responsibility of changing, but we have the responsibility of informing the public on the growing issue of global climate change.

There are indeed a minority of researchers, public speakers, and the President included who deny the existence of global warming as a whole. In their arguments, they appeal to the point that climate has been known to change periodically. Therefore, the current situation should be seen only as another turn in the planet’s natural history. It should also be noted that most of the group who do not believe in climate change are either employed by or own some companies that deal in the businesses considered to be primarily responsible for the severity of the greenhouse effect. Ultimately, the people who deny the existence of global climate change are the ones yet to present any scientific proof to support their claims.

Is man’s catastrophic dependence on fossil fuels worth the planet’s well-being? Research conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other reputed meteorological institutions has proved that average yearly temperature have been steadily increasing over the last decades (NASA). However, contrary to popular belief, climate change is more than just a global warming. Global climate change causes not only extreme heat, but extreme cold as well, with an increase of natural disasters to top it off. While scientists have not yet determined that climate change increases the number of natural disasters, it has been made clear that climate change exacerbates their impacts. For example, with the storm of Hurricane Sandy, higher sea temperatures and levels created heavier rainfall and raised the launching pad for a storm to surge (Freedman 2014). The Center for Biodiversity and Conservation has predicted through experimentation that by 2050, 15-37% of the species explored will be extinct (Thomas 2017). Melting of sea ice and glaciers will cause an accelerated sea level to rise along with longer, and more intense heat waves. The damage from rising sea levels could eventually cause damage to coastal cities and islands. The number of floods in different parts of the world has already started to steadily increase. The extent of climate change effects on individual regions will vary over time and with the ability of different societal and environmental systems to adapt to change. Some areas will get more precipitation and storms while others will get nothing and have serious droughts. Not only does the drastic weather change affect humans, the weather change could cause some disease particularly by mosquitoes who love humid climates and also different species living in the oceans. Therefore, not only are fossil fuels and natural gas polluting the atmosphere, they are polluting the ocean as well. The world’s dependence on fossil fuels is ultimately harming the planet. 

There are two main causes of climate changes - natural causes and human activities. Natural causes have influenced the earth's climates such as volcanic eruptions, ocean current, the earth's orbital changes and solar variations. The eruptions of volcanoes cause a cooling effect on the earth. When a volcano implodes, it throws out large volumes of sulphur dioxide, water vapor, dust, and ash into the atmosphere. Volcanic explosions affect the climatic pattern for years although the eruptions only last for a few days. Though these volcanic eruptions release large quantities of carbon dioxide, the U.S. Geological Survey reports that human activities now emit more than 135 times as much carbon dioxide as volcanoes each year. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the primary greenhouse gas that is contributing to recent climate change. Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels and changes in land use, release large amounts of CO2, causing concentrations in the atmosphere to rise. Atmospheric CO2 concentrations have increased by more than 40% since pre-industrial times, the current CO2 level is higher than it has been in at least 800,000 years. Human activities currently release over 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. Does it matter though? 

Rather than worrying too much about who or what is causing global climate change, naturally or industrially, we should accept that the world is getting warmer and find ways to adapt to the climate change phenomenon. For example by building better flood defenses and developing drought resistant crops. 200 years' worth of unchecked manmade activity has had a negative impact on the world around us - from deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels to driving cars and throwing away perfectly useable materials. We’re beginning to feel the effects of climate change around the globe, and while we can't undo the damage caused to the environment, we can help decelerate the rate of change - and long-term, change the fate of the planet altogether. 

The enormity of global warming can be daunting and dispiriting. One often wonders what just one person, or even one nation, could do on their own to try to slow and reverse climate change. By a combination of several techniques, we could reduce greenhouse gas emissions to safer levels. Just implementing a few of the ideas listed above could make a huge difference. Simple things that you can do yourself, such as turning off all appliances when they’re not in use, using fluorescent light bulbs, and even avoiding lighting during the daytime can make for a significant difference (Denchak 2016). More alternatives are taking less hot showers, driving fuel-efficient vehicles, and the simplest way that we all know: recycling. 

At home, the best way to help take action would be saving electricity by using energy-efficient appliances and compact fluorescent light bulbs, as well as reducing gasoline use by carpooling and possibly even buying green power from your electricity provider. Another shocking way to help fight climate change is the fact that healthier diets could contribute up to 23% of the U.S. Climate Action Plan goal to help reduce net greenhouse gas emissions. As it turns out, some relatively small diet tweaks could add up to significant amount in addressing climate change. A new study led by USC Santa Barbara researchers, who analyzed the potential effects of healthier model diets for the United States found that the food system contributes about 30% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, with the largest proportion coming from animal-based food (Cohen). Feeding massive amounts of grain and water to farmed animals and then killing them and processing, transporting, and storing their flesh is extremely energy heavy. Forests as well are cut down in order to supply pastureland and grow crops for the farm animals. The animals themselves and the entire process to produce animals into food releases an extreme amount of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere daily. According to an Oxford University study published in the journal Climatic Change, meat-eaters are responsible for almost twice as many dietary greenhouse-gas emissions per day as vegetarians (Scarborough). Ultimately, food has a tremendous impact on the environment, which means that there is enormous potential for our food choices to have positive effects on our environment.

Listed above were ways for you specifically to help take action at home against climate change. Today, most businesses recognize that climate change is a problem. What if you are a part of a community, a business who has access to more resources and want to help take action? Smart companies use their environmental strategies to build competitive advantage. In order to move towards cleaner energy, businesses are beginning to redesign their old power plants into new energy efficient plants by switching fuels. Some utilities are repowering old coal plants to run on cleaner natural gas or biomass; nearly 50 units are slated for retrofits in the U.S. alone (Berlin). The “repowering” concept also applies to trucks, buildings, and land. For businesses who hate to see valuable assets become obsolete, the solution of repowering can also be used. California garbage hauler Ratto Group replaced the insides of 17 diesel trucks with electric systems that meet state air regulations, which gives the company the ability to keep the vehicles that they already had. Banks are also now offering businesses “green bonds,” which let investors link their money to environmental causes. Green bonds are like regular bonds, but they fund projects that mitigate climate change or help people adapt to it. U.S. banks have now created their own green bonds, one leading bank raising half a billion dollars to help finance cities’ plans for new solar capacity, wind turbines, and energy-efficient street lamps (Berlin). These are just some ways, you as a business or community can help contribute.

On an even bigger level we move to ways cities can help contribute. More than half the world’s population now lives in urban areas. Urban areas already account for an estimated 76% of CO2 emissions from energy use, and many are already vulnerable to flooding and high temperatures. It makes sense then that city officials are starting to take on climate change. After all, doing so also gives these officials a shot at reducing pollution, while at the same time making their cities more attractive to residents and businesses. For example, Chicago has built what city officials call the “greenest street in America”—a two-mile stretch in which sidewalks are made from recycled materials, wind and sun power the streetlights, and bioswales line the streets (City of Chicago). Biowales are thick with drought tolerant plants that divert storm water from overburdened sewers. Not to mention the roads are paved with photocatalytic concrete that neutralizes harmful pollutants before they can contaminate the environment. The small streetscape uses 42% less energy than it used to and costed 21% less than a traditional road project. Buildings are responsible for approximately one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions, but the percentage is likely to shrink as more cities require municipal buildings to be energy efficient. Increasingly, government office buildings will have solar panels and even gardens on roofs, windows lined with heat-trapping film, and energy-efficient HVAC systems.

The fate of any accord on climate change lies in nations hands. Nations wield influence that individuals, businesses, and cities simply cannot. Their policies can spur green innovation or stunt it, toughen pollution standards or weaken them. Solar power is the biggest tool we have for cutting carbon, and The International Energy Agency says wind power will also be playing a big role. At their peak potential, solar and wind could help us avoid 12 gigatons of carbon emissions a year, almost a third of the world’s current total (Württemberg). Places short on land are beginning to use local waters for wind turbines and solar panels, a technique called “offshore energy”. Reforestation is another major idea for nations to consider. Forests absorbed 11% of U.S. emissions in 2013. Even though an estimated 1/3 of the world’s forests have been cut down, experts say we might be able to reclaim five billion acres. Countries such as Ethiopia and Uganda have already pledged to restore 865 million acres of degraded lands, which could eliminate tons of carbon. 

On a world level, geoengineering is a term for deliberate large-scale interventions that are designed to counteract climate change. Roughly half of global carbon emissions are removed naturally from the atmosphere each year. Human devised CO2 removal strategies such as sprinkling iron dust on the oceans to spur rapid plankton growth typically boost natural processes. Another approach companies building facilities that harvesting small amounts of carbon from the air. CO2 can also be trapped by thousands of giant artificial trees equipped with filters. Launching sunshades into space is another geoengineering proposal. Trillions of extremely thin, lightweight disks could be shot into orbit a million miles above Earth to reflect sunlight. Deploying global sunshade would be tremendously costly and time-consuming, as twenty electromagnetic launchers would have to send a stack of 800,000 disks into space every five minutes for ten years. The “shade” would be 16 trillion small disks, each equipped with tiny adjustable solar sails to prevent it from drifting away. On a world level, the Paris Climate Agreement has committed almost every country in the world to the plan of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to fight global warming as a whole. This is a giant step in progress as it is a world-wide effort to help tackle and end climate change. 

The existence of global warming is a reality. Even the smallest of contributions from you to help prevent global warming will go a long way into saving our planet, so let’s start now. The changes in weather patterns ultimately and undeniably affect humans. If the earth's temperatures continue to rise in the future, living things on earth will become extinct due to the high temperatures. Natural disasters will increase, including flooding, tsunamis and even catastrophic forest fires. Rise in rates of mortality and diseases caused by extreme weather events will occur. What people don’t realize is that climate change will also leads to psychological problems in humans such as post traumatic disorder, stress, anxiety and violence among the communities. There must be an international political solution put in place. Funding for developing cheap and clean energy production must be increased, as all economic development is based on increasing energy usage. If implemented now, a lot of the costs and damage that will be caused by changing climate can be mitigated. We are the only ones who can change the way we treat the planet, and we shouldn’t have to wait for national governments or a new global climate agreement to act on ruination. Through careful planning, new laws and technologies, we can act today and put an end to global climate change while at the same time protecting our health and future generations. By keeping mother Earth healthy, we keep humanity healthy.
