Climate change is occurring in many ways, which greatly affects the Earth negatively.  And now, more than ever, the Earth needs the help of everyday people to halt the effects of climate.  The reason I say this about the Earth is because the plans that Trump are implementing to help increase the economy is also going to all to increase the already “HUGE” carbon footprint that the United States has (Merica).  The United States is already the second most contributor of greenhouse gases (MacMillan).  One theory for why people think that Trump is not concerned about the negative effects that will be caused by his plans adding more CO2 into the atmosphere is because he does not believe that climate change is real.  As Trump puts it in a tweet, “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive” (Merica).  Even though there are people like Trump that do not believe in climate change, even with the surmountable amount of research that has proven the existence of climate change, there is still hope in saving our beautiful Earth because of many governments and everyday people doing their part in lowering the world’s carbon footprint.

There are many people, like me, that know that climate change is a problem, but there are still many other people, like Trump, that believe that “global warming and climate change is merely “real,” insofar as there is some evidence that something is going on with the global climate but also enough uncertainty about the causes of this phenomenon (or even whether it exists) that a state of crisis and alarm is not warranted” (Shao, Wanyum, et al.).  Even though this “disagreement about climate change in the mass public stands in contrast to the consensus in the international scientific community about both the warming of global temperatures and the view that global warming is due to the cumulative effect of human activity over the past two centuries; indeed, almost 90 percent of scientists attribute climate change to human activity” (Shao, Wanyum, et al.).  Reasons for why there are still people believing that global warming is not a problem that exists or needs to be dealt with “are the result of a confluence of factors, including political attitudes, trust in scientist and science, specific knowledge about climate change, exposure to information about climate change in the media and from other sources, and individuals’ own experiences with local weather and climate patterns” (Shao, Wanyum, et al.).  One botanist by the name of David Bellamy writes about why he believes that climate change is not a problem that needs the attention of the world, in a 2007 article “The Global Warming Myth” (Bellamy).  Bellamy gives several examples to support his claim, but the problem with his examples are that they are out of date.  One example Bellamy mentions is of how solar cycles, cosmic ray cloud control, El Ninos and La Ninas are all factors controlling the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (Bellamy).  But the thing is that since 2007, new research has been conducted that has proved repeatedly that climate change is occurring and it is negatively affecting the world as we know it.  NASA has even done research on how the levels of carbon dioxide, since around 1950, has exceeded the normal levels, proving that “the current warming trend is…the result of human activity” (Shaftel, Tenenbaum, and Jackson).

There has been evidence upon evidence that has been discovered through countless research and experiments that have proven that many side-effects of greenhouse gases that are associated with climate change.  But to just name a few, there is the “global temperature rise,” “ocean acidification,” and extreme weather events (Shaftel, Tenenbaum, and Jackson).  Global warming is the rise in temperature of the Earth, and this is caused by greenhouse gases trapping radiation from the sun and keep it from escaping our atmosphere.  This then causes for the average global temperature to be higher than it normally is.  Global warming can cause many negative effects on the Earth, such as the ice sheets, that serve as a part of many arctic species’ habitat like seals and polar bears, in Greenland and Antarctica to decrease in mass, the rapid decline of Artic sea ice in the last several decades, and glaciers “retreating almost everywhere around the world — including in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska and Africa” (Shaftel, Tenenbaum, and Jackson).  The melting of ice has contributed to the rising sea level; “the rate [of the rising sea level] in the last decade, however, is nearly double that of the last century” (Shaftel, Tenenbaum, and Jackson).  This increase of the sea level has already affected people of the Marshall Islands who have lost their homes to the rising sea levels and if it continues to rise, it “will lead to coastal flooding on the Eastern Seaboard, especially in Florida, and in other areas such as the Gulf of Mexico” (Dhar)(MacMillan).   

Ocean acidification is also another side-effect caused by greenhouse gases.  This made me wonder when did our carbon footprint start affecting the Earth so much, that we were literally making the Earth’s vast ocean more acidic.  The answer is that the technological advancements since the Industrial Revolution, which started in the late 18th century, was when the ocean started to become more acidic.  Since then, the acidity of surface ocean waters has increased by around 30 percent (Shaftel, Tenenbaum, and Jackson).  Another way of viewing this is our oceans absorbing 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year since the Industrial Revolution, which is way more than the ocean can regulate naturally (Shaftel, Tenenbaum, and Jackson).  This acidification of the oceans has resulted in the death of coral, that homes and feeds millions of fish which about because 1 billion of the human population relays on.  And if nothing is done to decrease our carbon footprint, then the oceans will become more and more acidic every year causing the death of billions of fish, which could then result in the starvation of humans.  

Another consequence of the greenhouse gases on climate change is the increasing number and strength of extreme events.  Extreme events are weather events, such as heatwaves, droughts, heavy rainfall, and hurricanes.  One example of how the greenhouse gases are contributing to the increase of extreme events is how “the earth’s rising temperatures are fueling…more frequent droughts” (MacMillan).  The “ongoing drought in California”, for example, has “been intensified by 15 percent to 20 percent by global warming”, which is caused by the emissions of greenhouse gases (MacMillan).  Not only is this causing a decrease of water availability in California, but it is also caused for countless human lives that have taken because of the increasing numbers of wildfires.  In order to stop the effects of global warming and ocean acidification and reduce the frequency of extreme weather events, the human race has to figure out a way to drastically decrease its carbon footprint.

There are many contributors to the increasing of greenhouse gas emissions, but in recent years, plans and strategies have been proposed to help reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.  Two of the biggest countries contributing to the grand human species’ carbon footprint are China and the United States.  China makes up about 28 percent and the U.S. makes up about 16 percent of the world’s carbon emissions.  These emissions are because of “our dependence on fossil fuel” (MacMillan).  Some of the United States’ plans to lower its carbon footprint involve lowering carbon pollution from transportation devices, starting to depend more on solar and wind power instead of burning fossil fuels, banning chemicals contributing to global warming like hydrofluorocarbons, and motivating the usage of more energy efficient household items (MacMillan).  The United States is not the only country trying to decrease the world’s carbon emissions.  195 countries that attended the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris, all agreed to cut their pollution in efforts to stop the average temperature of the world from increasing by 1.5 degrees Celsius; even though Trump is attempting to go against this agreement, most of the other countries have stuck to the agreement.  If this is successful, then we might be able “to avoid catastrophic climate impacts” that scientists have said will occur if the average global temperature were to increase more than two degrees Celsius (MacMillan).  While there are many countries starting to put in the effort to decrease carbon emissions, there are also things that every person can do in their personal lives to decrease greenhouse gas emissions.  

Things such as buying only appliances, like compact fluorescent bulbs, that are energy efficient and decrease the amount of electricity used in one’s everyday life.  One can also change their mode of transportation, so instead of using cars that release carbon dioxide, one can instead walk or ride a bike ("Top 10 Things You Can Do to Help”).  Also, if everyone were to decrease their usage of electricity, greenhouse gas emission would decrease significantly, “because electricity production is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases of any industry”, at least in the United States (Dhar).  Some other small changes that one can do in their everyday life to fight against the negative effects of climate change are insulating one’s home, not wasting water, and recycling ("Top 10 Things You Can Do to Help”).  All of these small contributions by ordinary people plus countries trying to decrease their carbon footprint and switch to renewable energy are all small steps that can counteract and decrease the negative effects of climate change.  This also shows how the decisions of many people trying to help decrease the world’s carbon footprint show that there is still hope to stop the destruction of climate change.
