The world is dying and no one seems to care. Not only do many people not care, some people do not even acknowledge that global warming is real.
Throughout this past year, Canada has experienced the worst wildfires on record, with 42.7 million acres of land affected by wildfires according to the Washington Post. Additionally, in July 2023, the heat record was broken four days in a row, reaching an all-time-high of 62.92 degrees Fahrenheit on July 4, according to the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine.
This summer, while on a plane to California, my nana mentioned how global warming is causing the record breaking temperatures and the man next to her rolled his eyes and said, ‘It’s called weather, we’ve always had weather’.
Despite the numbers and scientific facts, many people, like this man, choose not to acknowledge that global warming is real. Perhaps some people do not know enough information about the issue to acknowledge it, but either way, global warming is a real issue and needs to be given the attention it deserves.
In simple terms, global warming is the long-term warming of the Earth’s temperature. The burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas are some of its biggest contributors. As a result, global warming affects sea level rise, loss of animal species and their habitats, increased number of wildfires, droughts, food production and more, according to NASA Global Climate Change.
All these effects are very much real and can be proven by science. However, even some high up there people with political power such as the former senator of Oklahoma, Jim Inhofe, do not believe global warming exists. According to an interview with the senator, climate change is the “greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people,” Inhofe said. He states that only God has the ability to control the weather, not humans.
Everyone has their own beliefs and it is important to respect them, however it is also important to acknowledge science in order to see the entire picture.
I am not a scientist, nor have I personally experienced the effects of global warming, however, I still care. Global warming is a problem that affects everyone, especially the younger generation, and will continue to affect people until we find a solution.
At the very least, we have a responsibility to ourselves and future generations to recognize that global warming is a real problem. Finding a solution to the problem will take time and will not be easy, but acknowledging that global warming is real is something anyone can do.
I am not going to sit here and say that ‘We can stop global warming today!’ because the hard truth is, no matter how hard we try to stop it from progressing, it will continue to get worse. Unless every person in the world stops using gasoline powered cars, going on planes, having air conditioning and heating in our homes, using electricity, then global warming will continue to worsen. However, there are things we can do that will at least make a small difference.
When we are at our houses we can turn off the lights to save energy. Additionally, instead of each person taking their own car, we can carpool or even walk if the destination is nearby. Shopping sustainably is another way to reduce your contribution to global warming. Ditch shopping from Shein or Forever 21 and try shopping from locally owned businesses or thrifting. Rather than buying a plastic water bottle everyday, invest in a reusable water bottle to save plastic.
Everyone has the ability to slow the progression of global warming even if it is by doing something small. Additionally, everyone can, and needs to, acknowledge that global warming is very much a real problem in today’s society and will continue to worsen unless we do something about it.
