While global warming has been disputed among scientists and politicians for years, the presence of a changing atmosphere can no longer be ignored — and time is running out.
Climate change is an urgent problem and it is affecting the Earth in ways many students do not understand. The Earth has indeed shown trends of warming ever since scientists began calculating a global temperature.
According to NASA scientists, “two-thirds of the warming has occurred since 1975, at a rate of roughly 0.15-0.20 degrees Celsius per decade.”
Many scientists agree that such a drastic change in temperature cannot be explained by natural phenomena alone. This amount of temperature change is due to the number of greenhouse gasses that are present in the atmosphere.
According to National Geographic, the “current levels of the greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide — in our atmosphere are higher now than at any point over the past 800,000 years.”
Climate change is urgent because along with increased temperatures are changes to weather patterns, such as stronger weather systems and an increased number of droughts. A National Geographic article writes that climate change is leading to problems with crop yields because crops cannot survive or produce adequate yields in times of drought.
An increased number of wildfires has also become a problem because of these droughts as well. An example of this is the unprecedented wildfires in California, where they have been in a drought for many years.
There are many efforts to reverse global temperature — and it is more than just reusable bags and metal straws. Scientists at Harvard University are looking into an experiment that would release particles into the atmosphere, therefore creating a semi-reflective layer in the stratosphere. This would decrease the amount of sunlight hitting the earth, which some projections estimate could reduce the global temperature by 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Politics is the most essential method of fighting global warming. Governments need to work together to reduce the number of carbon emissions in the atmosphere — and responsibility for the future of our climate falls on the shoulders of our next president, according to Politico.
Unfortunately, the push against environmental reform comes from the companies that profit off of producing these toxic emissions. According to a study by the Guardian, there are 100 companies across the globe that produce 71 percent of the world’s global emissions.
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, there are solutions in reach if people collectively decide to change. Increasing the use of renewable energy and becoming less reliant on coal or other fossil fuels is essential, along with increasing the fuel efficiency of cars and supporting alternative options to oil.
Putting limits in place so that polluters can only emit a certain amount of pollutants should become policy, and investing in clean energy technologies should become a priority. Creating an economy that supports these “green” companies and protecting tropical rainforests to keep them from being destroyed would help combat the climate crisis.
KSU students need to be aware of the urgency of global warming because the problems scientists are dealing with now will only worsen with time. Unless lawmakers and politicians are elected that have a focus on protecting the earth, it risks further damage with every passing day.
