Climate Change’s Effects on Today’s World
Climate change. It’s a word that’s been used to describe how our world is slowly approaching a sickening horror. But what is climate change, and can it affect our lives?
Climate change is essentially the shift in our long-term weather patterns. Since the birth of our planet, we’ve gone through periods of extreme weather change – for example: The Ice Age. Until recently, however, these changes were never caused by humans. Within the last century, our behavior has triggered unforeseen changes to our atmosphere, natural resources, and even caused severe weather events. When we burn fossil fuels, pollute oceans and land, and cut down trees, we are causing serious damage to our Earth.
Burning fossil fuels launches great amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is an example of a greenhouse gas, which locks heat into the air, slowly increasing our environment’s temperature. Polluting oceans and land, especially with plastic, is detrimental to wildlife. Most plastics take hundreds of years to degrade, emitting greenhouse gas called methane — and in the meantime, can be ingested by unaware animals. Another issue impacting animals and our climate are cutting down trees, known as deforestation. Additionally, plants intake carbon dioxide and release oxygen, so getting rid of trees increases the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which we know can trap heat. Which leads back to the greenhouse effect above.
How does all this affect us? Lately, human impact on the environment has caused noticeable ecological affects. Continental ice shelves in the Arctic and Antarctic are melting, causing a rise in sea levels. This leads to more tropical storms, such as hurricanes, typhoons, and tsunamis. People living in these areas are finding themselves in danger due to climate change. Those who live in the dry northern area of California witness more wildfires than ever. Climate change causes warmer and drier conditions, which are ideal for fires to spread. These conditions will just get worse, so we need to focus on spreading awareness to stop this crisis.
Sources:
“Extreme Weather and Climate Change.” Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, 13 Sept. 2021, https://www.c2es.org/content/extreme-weather-and-climate-change/ 
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“What Is Climate Change? A Really Simple Guide.” BBC News, BBC, 9 Aug. 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-24021772 .
“The Effects of Climate Change.” NASA, NASA, 26 Aug. 2021, https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/
Scientific Peer Review by Alysia Mandato
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