What’s the first thing you think of when considering climate change? Polar Bears, maybe? Melting of the Polar Ice Caps? Sadly, the Polar Bears won’t be the only ones without a home if we don’t act now. Climate change is a real problem that the world is facing right now that no one talks about. You might hear about it once or twice, but nothing that causes you to do anything differently to change that.
Everybody knows that climate change causes the Polar Ice Caps to melt, but we aren’t told the extent of the damage we’ve caused. Approximately 40% of the earth’s land area was covered by ice caps 30 years ago; however, right now, a mere 10% of the earth’s land area is covered by ice caps. If we go by these statistics, we lose around 10% of the Polar Ice Caps each decade. By the time 2035 comes, we’re not going to have anything left of the ice caps; an entire continent could be destroyed if we don’t stop this.
Unfortunately, the ice caps aren’t the only thing we have to worry about in climate change. The global temperature is rising, and it’s only going to get worse from here. As we stand right now, climate change is leading to issues such as wildfires, a rise in heat-related illnesses, respiratory issues, infectious disease, droughts, air pollution, ocean acidification, disrupted ecosystems, the list goes on and on.
Ocean acidification is the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth’s oceans caused by the absorption of excess carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, leading to a more acidic seawater environment. As you can imagine, this is a huge problem. The animals who live in the water are absorbing all of that carbon dioxide and are dying or it stays in their bloodstream until we eat them. Carbon isn’t the only thing we have to worry about; microplastics, tiny pieces of plastic, have been found in fish and other seafood, meaning we potentially consume them when eating fish.
Not only will climate change destroy the homes of animals, but also our homes. Because of the ice caps melting, the ocean is getting bigger, causing access flooding in coastal areas. Pretty soon, thousands of homes could be underwater! Also, because most people stay inside all day without any contact with the sun, their vitamin D levels are low. This causes more vulnerability to things like sunburns and skin cancer.
Luckily, even though all hope seems lost, there’s still time to do your part and help the environment. For starters, at home, you can use less energy by lowering your heating and cooling, switching to LED light bulbs and energy-efficient electric appliances, washing your laundry with cold water, or hanging things to dry instead of using a dryer. This not only brings down the usage of fossil fuels but also keeps your electricity bill low! You can also throw away less food. When you do throw food away, it’s taken away to rot in a landfill and produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. So if you don’t want to finish your leftovers, compost them so they can be used to give new life to a plant.
If you don’t know if you’re doing enough to help by yourself, you can join an organization so you can better learn from the professionals how to help the environment. One organization is called the Environmental Defense Fund, and they’re always accepting donations to help their cause!
In short, there’s only one Earth; there is no plan B if this planet fails. This is our home, and we need to protect it. Do your part in slowing and hopefully stopping the effects of climate change.
