There is no way to ignore the fact that global warming affects the Earth and the people living on it. It is proven that global warming in the 20th century is driven by human activity. The increase in greenhouse gas levels results in the Earth heating up. This event has been taking place since the Industrial Revolution. The Earth’s temperature has been heating up for decades, causing intense droughts, wildfires, and extreme storms with heavier rainfall. Looking at the ocean, it is also heating up. The glaciers, ice caps, and ice sheets have been melting. This is causing sea levels to rise, creating flooding problems for many people who live on islands and in coastal communities. Corals, fish, and other organisms die due to their new living conditions. Countries worldwide are trying to lower greenhouse gas emissions to slow global warming. In 2015, nearly 200 countries signed the Paris Agreement at a United Nations Climate Change conference. The international treaty tasks each country with lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Although Earth’s temperature continues to rise throughout the years, it is not increasing as quickly as it could be.
Elizabeth Loveland said that global warming impacts the earth and its people, “I think it impacts our lives a lot. I think that the change in weather is the most obvious. The least obvious is health repercussions because they seem to come and go, but how people get sick is changing because of the climate.” When it comes to misconceptions about climate change, Elizabeth said, “I think it’s because a lot of people would think it would happen naturally. The speed at which the planet is changing is on us and up to us. We can only do so much, but we can, on the other hand, reverse the damage that we’ve done to the planet. But we cannot stop climate change.” There may be many reasons why people think they should or should not care about climate change. Sawyer Best said, “What makes me care is there are so many beautiful things about the world that we have now and there are so many beautiful things that we used to have, and I want to have a family, and want them to enjoy the world like I did, and there are so many different things that my future family won’t be able to see.” Regarding many natural disasters worldwide, whether due to weather or something else, Sawyer said, “I experienced a hail warning last month and it was pretty terrifying.” He also said, “When I was in sixth grade, I experienced a wildfire. It was so scorched that you couldn’t go outside.”
Global warming has affected many parts of the world, and just as significantly, the lives on it. The everyday lives of people in our world are helping global warming worsen. Whether from home heating and cooling systems, cooking, running appliances, or maintaining other building-wide systems, these things accounted for 13 percent of the U.S. emissions in 2020. Towards the beginning of global warming, it was referred to as the increase in the planet’s overall average temperature in recent decades. Nature and its causes have always affected the world’s temperature and climate. More recently, the planet’s temperature and climate have changed at a pace that nature cannot keep up with. The rapid changes are the effect of human activity and the widespread use of fossil fuels for energy. Our lifestyle choices, the daily decisions, which products we purchase, how much electricity we consume, and many more all add to our single, unique carbon footprint. Combined with others, these factors result in global warming.
Sources:
https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/what-is-climate-change/
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/global-warming/
https://www.nrdc.org/stories/what-are-causes-climate-change
