To be honest, I’ve about had it with the fluctuations in the climate. I want summer to feel like summer. I want fall to feel like fall. I want winter to feel like winter. I want spring to feel like spring. Is that too much to ask? I don’t think it is, but I know the reason why autumn is a mix of spring, summer, fall and winter all rolled into one: global climate change.
Of course, there are people who ignore the facts and even ignore the evidence that surrounds them. These people are ignorant. Sorry to be blunt, but it’s true. Our sea levels should not be rising, animals should not be going extinct, we should not be having extreme weather worldwide and the global temperature should not be rising at the rate it currently is. Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, both Category 5 storms, should not have occurred within a week of each other. These are two deadly examples of the earth rebelling against the abuse it has endured from human life. We did this to ourselves, and it is up to us to save the only place we can exist.
According to NASA, when the earth moved in and out of ice ages over a million years ago, the global temperature rose a total of seven degrees celsius over the span of 5,000 years. In the past century alone, the global temperature has risen 0.7 degrees celsius, 10 times the rate of average global temperature changes. So, what are we as a species doing wrong?
On Earth, human activities are changing the global temperature. The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in our atmosphere is absolutely bonkers. The burning of fossils fuels, such as coal and oil, has increased the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere. Some harmful and inhumane activities that contribute to the excess CO2 in our atmosphere include deforestation and driving cars. Deforestation is a huge contributor because trees convert CO2 into oxygen, an obvious necessity for human survival.
Industrial livestock agriculture is another huge contributor to global climate change. If every single person on Earth went vegan for a week, we could probably stop climate change in its tracks. Raising cows, pigs and chickens generates excessive greenhouse gas emissions, as much as cars, trucks and all automobiles combined.
With the route we are currently taking, it doesn’t seem like the earth can take much more of this abuse, so what can humans do to stop this? We have to switch to a more clean and efficient source of energy. I mean there is this huge orb of gas that our planet circles constantly. Maybe we could put it to good use. Solar energy perhaps? I’m just spitballing here.
People need to stop using so much coal and oil and convert to more sustainable means. More people need to recycle, switch to battery powered cars, use less heat and air conditioning, drive less, take shorter showers, wash larger loads of laundry and walk or use public transportation as much as possible. These are all such simple things that could save the lives of humans, animals and plants alike. This is the only Earth we’ll ever have, and it’s up to us to save it.