The Dangers of Climate Change

This year, more than ever, has been filled with dangerous hurricanes, extremely hot and cold temperatures, and much more drastic changes in our climate. What is the reasoning for this? All signs point to climate change. But what exactly is climate change? According to researchers at the University of California, climate change refers to the “significant changes in global temperature, precipitation, wind patterns and other measures of climate that occur over several decades or longer.”  We are at a point where these changes can no longer go unnoticed.

Published in the California journal on Perspectives on Psychological Science, scientists have come to the agreement that climate change is a real issue caused by human activity and it needs to be stopped. The main reasons for this is the greenhouse gases being overproduced by humans.

The dangerous effect of such pollution has caused the planet to change drastically according to recent weather patterns seen globally. For example, the gradual melting of the glaciers in the Arctic proposes a serious issue to the earth because, eventually, humans may possibly have a limited source of fresh water. Another grave concern is the dangerous rise in sea levels, which has the potential to even consume places, such as the entire state of Florida, putting it under water completely.

Other issues caused by such damage to our earth would be the climate effects on different regions, which could potentially affect the various economic and environmental systems to either be non-existent or forced to adapt over time. According to NASA, the increasing heat will produce beneficial impacts in some regions yet have harmful effects on others. Another factor would include the Net annual cost for produced food that will definitely increase over time due to changing circumstances in agricultural businesses.

Essentially, in the near future, humans will have to deal with increasingly stronger weather storms such as hurricanes, more droughts in certain areas, and a higher precipitation rate in others. The changes needed to make a difference are in the hands and voices of the people to our politicians. There is no way to predict the future, however, saving the future of the planet should always remain as a top priority. This is our home after all!

For ways to see how you can help the planet check out this rampage article: “Staying Green: One Step at a Time” by Fransisco Mendez and Michelle Crespo.

Check out these sources for more information:

https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

https://www.ipcc.ch/

https://www.globalchange.gov/