Climate change is one of the most pressing issues that the world faces today. Since the industrial revolution, the levels of carbon dioxide have been increasing at an alarming rate.
Those high levels of CO2 have been affecting the global climate and as such, the temperature has been steadily rising. Most of the world's hottest years have occurred in the last 10 to 15 years.
Many facts show that climate change is a real problem that should be addressed. As a result of the ever-changing climate, the world is slowly losing its ice sheets. The ice sheets in Greenland lost about 197 gigatons of ice in 2019. From 1979 to 2006, (there) had been a decline in the mass of those ice sheets.
The glaciers have also been melting before our eyes as the temperature has increased over the years. These glaciers are home to polar bears, penguins, seals, fish, krill and birds, and they live on or under the ice. Their homes, however, are being threatened by the melting of these glaciers due to climate change.
The ocean levels have also been rising due to the glaciers melting. Areas on the coastline are the ones that are most affected by this. When there are storms, the coastline will be the most affected as they will be more intense and powerful. That leads to more damage.
The more that we ignore climate change, the more some of the effects will take effect sooner. The temperatures will continue to rise, and this is due to fossil fuels, so cutting back on our usage of those could have a long-lasting effect on the climate. Frost-free seasons will start to become the norm and that can have a bad effect on plants and animals as well as agriculture and other ecosystems. We could be in for more droughts and heatwaves if the climate issue goes unaddressed.
The future regarding climate change now is grim as no one is actively trying to change or reduce the causes of climate change. Greenhouse gases are still being released at a high rate.
While there is the Paris Climate Accord, the USA leaving set back the accord by a bit. However, even the Paris Accord is not doing enough to stop the most dramatic effects of climate change. Most critics say that the accord is not enough to save the earth from some of the worst-case scenarios involving climate change.
The only way to prevent those worst-case scenarios would be to be proactive concerning the climate. We need to migrate our carbon footprint, especially those of the wealthy as they have been said to have a carbon footprint that is at least 175 times bigger than that of a low-income family. Implementing a carbon tax on various industries could force them to look toward more clean energy to use. These are just some of the things that can be done to help ease the burden of climate change and give us a fighting chance in the future.
Tino Muneri is a student in the school of engineering
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