Cassidy's Creative Corner: Climate Change

Across the globe, people are reaping the consequences of climate change, and the rise in our human population. Our natural resources are becoming scarce, and increasingly expensive. Climate change is causing intense drought, rising sea levels, melting ice caps, and the warming of our oceans. So, if climate change is so bad…why do we keep ignoring it? 

First, climate change is a long term effect. For most people, immediate concerns trump long term concerns. Although we are seeing some of the consequences now, most are in the future. If we think these consequences are far enough away, it becomes easy to ignore and postpone. However, this is extremely dangerous. If we don’t start fixing the problems now, we are not only going to endanger ourselves, but the future generations to come. 

A lot of people don’t see problems such as glaciers melting, rising sea levels, and our oceans becoming warmer as a major concern but they need to. Ice is extremely important to life as we know it. According to World Wildlife, “Ice acts like a protective cover over the Earth and our oceans. These bright white spots reflect excess heat back into space and keep the planet cooler. In theory, the Arctic remains colder than the equator because more of the heat from the sun is reflected off the ice, back into space.” About 10% of land on Earth is covered with this ice. The glaciers are melting because of carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse emission gasses, which are raising the temperatures in the poles. 

These melting glaciers contribute to the rising sea levels. “Melting glaciers add to rising sea levels, which in turn increases coastal erosion and elevates storm surge as warming air and ocean temperatures create more frequent and intense coastal storms like hurricanes and typhoons. Specifically, the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are the largest contributors of global sea level rise. Right now, the Greenland ice sheet is disappearing four times faster than in 2003 and already contributes 20% of current sea level rise.” This can also affect weather patterns, and a loss of humans and wildlife. 

There are many more issues that need to be addressed, and there are things you can do yourself to help stop them. You can advocate, cut down on your meat intake, reduce your energy use, protect green spaces, cut down on your consumption, and more. I encourage anyone to read more articles, and inform themselves on the topic if you aren’t already. This is extremely important. 

Sources: World Wildlife: https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/why-are-glaciers-and-sea-ice-melting

Michigan State University: https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/climate_change_and_its_effects_on_natural_resources

Imperial College London: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/stories/climate-action/