Climate Change Is a Thing People

By: Faith McArthur

Looks like I’ll be taking the reins on this subject to give you a little more insight as to what climate change is and how serious we should be taking it.

           

            The hype of the media right now is, obviously, the presidential debates where two people who think they are better than one another try to prove it to millions of other people so they can run a country. As social media takes these debates and makes them more of a joke, we are being taken away from what is actually being, or more specifically, what isn’t being said by our candidates. In the first presidential debate, Hillary Clinton made a scientific statement about climate change to one-up her opponent, Donald Trump, which was never further discussed and basically skipped over. Clinton mentioned how she wants the United States to be a superpower of clean energy, but quickly turns to the subject on Trump by saying he doesn’t believe in climate change. “Donald thinks that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. I think it’s real.” Instantly following this mention of climate change, the two candidates started to bash and quarrel one with the other. Clinton added, “And I think it’s important that we grip this and deal with it, both at home and abroad.” (https://youtu.be/6GIe-Cut8xc?t=13m20s) After making this claim she does not further her idea on how or why climate change is important and we are left with this question unanswered.

Readers, Trump is stupid. My hope for you is that you will know that climate change is an issue to be further discussed and also have a clearer understanding of how it is rapidly happening.

            In an article written by NASA, they have explored the drastic weather changes of waters in East Africa, Lake Victoria to be specific, and due to climate changes are becoming a real hotspot for hazardous thunderstorms. A climate scientist named Wim Theiry why such storms are occurring more often than not. With the help of new satellite-based storm detection tech created at NASA, they were able to map the number of hazardous thunderstorms and their locations in East Africa. They detected that dangerous thunderstorms occurred every 15 minutes. During the day, most storms rage over the surrounding land, especially the typical afternoon thunderstorms that are caused by local upsurges of warm air. Since the Lake has such an enormous surface, circulation in the atmosphere above produces storms on a recurring daily basis. I don’t know about you, but that is one lake I would rather not fish in. (Lake Victoria Hazardous Storms)

          In the New York Times, they put Los Angeles in the spotlight for their work of trying to cut back on fossil fuels. This idea kick started when their ozone became unbearably polluted and stayed that way for three consecutive years. Former mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, realized that cities with high populations could play a very important role in addressing their pollution problems and also global climate change. He continued to make this matter a priority by participating in a delegation of mayors from all over the world who went to a meeting in Paris to discuss global climates. The article moves ahead by talking about the success of LA’s recent step towards getting 100 percent of the city’s energy from renewable sources. Los Angeles has been a role model for many other cities in California, therefore making the state of California and role model for the country to find safe and environmentally saving ways to fight pollution and no longer be dependent on fossil fuels. (LA's Quest to Cut Back Fossil Fuels).

Another way we can tell climate change is real is by looking at what would be considered the most obvious sign. Our global neighbor called the North Pole. It’s very natural for the land of ice to drift on its own, but only so much. Ten meters a century to be exact, but it is moving more speedily than it has in the past and the likely culprit of this climate change. Due to drifting, there has been a sudden shift in the continent that could be the latest in the past decades that scientists have been unable to explain. Will this shift turn the world upside down? I hope not. (Earth Is Tipping Because of Climate Change)

            You know when you’ve never done something before and you feel nervous and maybe even a little vulnerable? The world is also vulnerable when it comes to extreme weather conditions that are abnormal. It is said that climate change is highly likely to increase the magnitude of drastic weather disasters. Basically, we are all in danger and I’m not going to waste your time sugar coating it because it’s the truth; however, articles say that vulnerability to extreme weather events are a part of different sustainable plans for developing countries. Many agencies are now shifting their focus on capacity building for developing countries so they will be more prepared for unpredictable weather events. (Peer Reviewed)

            Now I have been talking a lot about the drastic and unpredictable weather conditions caused by climate change, but there is an outlier issue that is lesser known to the public. I came across an article on Discover and was very intrigued to find this information. Apparently, climate change is erasing our past by melting ice being exposed and washing out archaeological discoveries, or more delightful to say, buried treasures. This article tell us that constant rainstorms are revealing reserves, but then washing them clear before science gets the chance to study them. As we delve further into this article, we read about the citizen science project put together by the Museum of London Archaeology. Their project gave any citizen the opportunity to do some actual research to find many treasures that included everything from intertidal shipwrecks, Roman buildings, all the way to relics from both World Wars. Crazy? I know! They still have this volunteer project open in the hopes to rediscover ways to adapt to the constant changing climates of today. (Climate Change Uncovers Our Past)

IN CONCLUSION

So readers, remember when I said Trump is stupid? I still stand by that statement. I think you will find it clear enough that climate change is real. You see it every day yourself. When you complain why it’s so hot when it is October or how every year is getting warmer and warmer, that is all climate change. The inversion and pollution that gets worse and worse, also climate change. It is a daily part of our lives that we don’t notice and someday, who knows, the worst will come. Now that you know, better start preparing for the worst.