The earth we love and call home has been changing since the 1830s, according to Carbon Brief, an organization whose main focus is our climate. I was taught at a young age about global warming and how we as a society can help Mother Nature in these environmentally-trying times, but not everybody has the opportunity to learn about this. I believe that if we start showing more care for our planet and cease being ignorant about climate change, we will be making life better for us and people who will be living on this planet long after our generation.
“Glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, cloud forests are dying, and wildlife is scrambling to keep pace,” National Geographic’s reporter, Cory Richards explained. “It’s becoming clear that humans have caused most of the past century’s warming by releasing heat-trapping gases as we power our modern lives.”
I know there are people who refuse to believe that our world is changing, and because of this, we cannot succeed in helping our planet. We all need to come together as a community and find ways to solve our environment’s struggles. I believe those who do not believe in climate change are scared to admit that we are the issue.
“Most Americans treat climate change, as the saying goes, seriously but not literally,” Michelle Nijhuis, a project editor for The Atlantic wrote in a New York Times article earlier this year. “We accept the science, we worry about its forecasts. We tell ourselves that the effects won’t be as bad as predicted, or that they will happen elsewhere, a long time from now.”
Earth’s climate does not just affect the dirt under our feet, but it also affects us. CNN Health did a study to see if the changes in our environment have more than one victim. Turns out, we are one of them.
Th results of the study stated that “an increase in average monthly temperatures to over 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit), up from an average of 25 to 30, was correlated with a 0.5% increase in mental health issues.”
Now, this seems like a small number but Nick Obradovich, the study’s lead author and a scientist at MIT’s Media Lab explained, “[This] would produce approximately 2 million additional individuals reporting mental health difficulties.”
This gives us another reason to find solutions for climate change. The fact that our planet can, in fact, control our mental stability depending on how we treat it, is scary. This shows that the better we treat our planet, the better our mental health.
Climate change affects us more than we know. The Guardian states that 100 large companies have been the source of more than 70 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988, according to a new report. But luckily, not all businesses are feeding into this planet-damaging trend.
“There is a growing wave of companies that are acting in the opposite manner to the companies in this report,” said Michael Brune, executive director of U.S. environmental organization the Sierra Club.
We can see there are companies willing to evolve with our planet as it goes through an environmental change. We can’t fight mother nature, so we have to support her and some of the most popular companies are one step ahead.
“Nearly 100 companies including Apple, Facebook, Google, and Ikea have committed to 100% renewable power under the RE100 initiative. Volvo recently announced that all its cars would be electric or hybrid from 2019,” said Tess Riley, a reporter for The Guardian.
If climate change isn’t an issue, then why are large businesses, such as Apple, shifting to go green? Because they know our environment needs help and they have an impact.
It’s clear that the damage to our planet is caused by humans, but we can’t forget about those who are doing their part to evolve with the solutions. I know the climate isn’t what it used to be and those who decline to learn more are scared by the thought of environmental damage, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find solutions. I think we could have a happier, healthier Earth depending on our actions as a society, and that’ll lead to happier and healthier people.
