How Concerned Are You About Climate Change? - Writing Blog

Climate change comes into my head once and a while, and it immediately causes panic. Can you imagine a world roaming with chaos, where the temperature is blazing hot, with extreme precipitation, storms, and droughts? What about an increased amount of poverty and starvation, with high sea levels, causing major damage to the environment? The thought of being in a world even remotely like what I described scares me. These are all effects of climate change. The increasing changes in our climate from high amounts of greenhouse gas emissions will soon drag us into this dystopian-like world, when our climate has long been destroyed. Climate change is something that everyone knows about, and everyone hears about, but hardly anyone is acting upon it. The reason why climate change concerns me the most is because of our populations unwillingness to stop it, and because of the deadly consequences that will come when it is too late.

Climate change concerns me because of the impeding consequences if we don’t act. If we continue to ignore climate change, there will be many dangerous effects that come later. In fact, many effects can already be seen all over the world as we speak. Although there are numerous consequences of climate change, there are two main aspects that worry me the most: global warming and the effects of climate change on humans and agriculture.

           The most popular category of climate change, and the most dangerous. Global warming is caused by the increasing temperature from greenhouse gas emissions and is often confused with climate change. These temperatures will affect nature significantly. One of the most notable effects include the melting of ice in polar regions, and even though majority of society does not live in these regions, the melting of ice will affect the entire world. The most dangerous effects being the increasing sea levels, and the releasement of ancient pathogens. According to NASA Climate Change, the rising sea levels along with storms and high tides will lead to increased amounts of flooding along coastlines, damaging communities all over the world and resulting in many homes being destroyed. On top of that, the melting of permafrost will release ancient bacteria and diseases, jeopardizing humanity. A newsletter from the BBC Science Focus Magazine revealed that in 2016, an outbreak of anthrax poisoning in Siberia led to the death of a 12-year-old and many becoming sick. The area hadn’t had an outbreak in over 70 years, and scientists believe that the anthrax spores were released from a newly exposed carcass that was previously covered by permafrost. With ancient diseases being released with virtually no effective immunities, our species could be easily put at risk, not to mention the many species of animals that are slowly losing their habitats. But wait, there's more.

            Climate change also significantly affects our weather and therefore our economy and agriculture. The increased global temperature will warm up the ocean and cause a flood of events, such as stronger and more intense tropical storms and a change in precipitation patterns. On the other hand, parts of the world will be experiencing almost the complete opposite, with raging wildfires and droughts stretching for many weeks. Since we need the climate to be just right for agriculture to prosper, this extreme weather will only exacerbate world hunger, affecting food availability and quality. Now I think that no one in the right mind would want this to happen, so how do we stop this?

            To combat climate change, we should all try and be as "green" as we can. There are many ways we can help save our planet, such as taking the bus to school, or lowering energy usage in your household. Even the smallest things count, such as throwing away less food and recycling. However, we can’t completely rely on individual people to “do their part”. Yes, we can all help by doing these things, but if we want to stop climate change on a higher level, we will need to speak up. We can keep spreading the word and protesting, but to make a difference, we need a leader that will be able to bring this issue up and talk about it. The only problem is, no one will vote for them. Our country, and many others, have been brainwashed by the government to believe that climate change doesn't exist, and if it does, we can't stop it. Even if there is a governor who will run for office, we will need the whole world to take this problem down, or else it will take us down first. That is what concerns me, the unwillingness of our species to work together and solve a problem, even when our lives are on the line.

Works Cited:

The Effects of Climate Change. 29 Aug. 2022, climate.nasa.gov/effects/#:~:text=The%20potential%20future%20effects%20of,

and%20intensity%20of%20tropical%20storms. Accessed 3 Oct. 2022.

Source of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. 16 Mar. 2018, www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions. Accessed 3 Oct. 2022.

United Nations - Act Now. 4 June 2020, www.un.org/en/actnow/ten-actions#unplug. Accessed 3 Oct. 2022.

Will melting permafrost release ancient viruses and bacteria? 4 Nov. 2020, www.sciencefocus.com/science/viruses-bacteria-in-permafrost/. Accessed 3 Oct. 2022.