Since 1880, the global average temperature has risen about 2.0 degrees Fahrenheit–around 1.1 degrees Celsius for all you non-American folk out there. While that doesn’t sound like a huge amount, the effect that this heat has on our planet is catastrophic.

The sun naturally gives off a wide range of electromagnetic radiation waves, a majority of these being ultraviolet rays that come in three forms: UV-A, UV-B and UV-C. These rays differ in their effects on us because of their wavelengths and energies, but UV-B–a shorter wavelength radiation that is mostly absorbed by the sun’s natural ozone–is quite harmful to us. It can cause cancer, intense sunburn and damage to your cell’s DNA.

With the increase in pollutants that humans are releasing into the atmosphere, the ozone layer that has been protecting us is depleting. The molecular bonds within the ozone layer are destroyed by chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) gases, which are contained in things like aerosols (hairspray), refrigeration (air-conditioning) and solvents (laundry detergent).

The use of these products has created a hole in the ozone, making us vulnerable to the dangerous UV-B rays.

This is only made worse by the increase of ‘greenhouse gases’ present in our atmosphere, and multiple studies have found that this change has been caused by human activities.

These gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH), are capable of trapping energy from infrared radiation, the form of energy that essentially makes things hot and is, therefore, preventing the heat from leaving the stratosphere, causing a global increase in temperature.

While I ramble on about global warming, it is important to note that cold weather still happens during the year. You've probably read about or are currently experiencing the current bomb cyclone that is ranging through the Mid-West, Northeast and just recently the East Coast.

You might be thinking "What is this girl rambling on about? It's freezing, we could use a little 'global warming' right now". The thing is, global warming is just one portion of the overarching worldwide problem of climate change.

The regional and global weather is affected by ocean patterns, upper winds, level of Arctic sea ice and the shifting shape of the jet stream.The Arctic sea ice levels have decreased dramatically in the past few decades, with between 0.17 to 0.2 millions square miles being melted every decade.

Last year set a new record for the lowest maximum sea ice extent ever. The jet stream, fast flowing air currents from the Arctic, naturally shift to blow cold air to various parts of the world such as Europe and the United States.

However, recent research has found that the decreased in Arctic sea ice has caused more divergence in the jet streams path, causing extreme winter cold into the mid-latitudes.

Of course, the bomb cyclone isn't the only extreme weather we have seen because of climate change–the hurricanes that swept the US Gulf Coast, Puerto Rico and Eastern Seaboard are thought to have been influenced by the warmer air.

The Hurricanes are fueled by the increased ocean temperatures, as well as the higher percentage of humidity in the air and are able to turn into the devastating storms we had during Summer 2017.

Here lies the problem: I can sit and preach all day about the causes of climate change, the issues it has caused and will cause for our society and the ways we can prevent it–but I am only one person. Trump's administration has continuously shown that they strongly doubt the human impacts on the changing climate, and without proper legislation and corrective measurements put into place, the issue is only going to grow.

You can help by doing whatever you can to use less fuel, fewer aerosols, minimal air conditioning and you can act now by signing one of the petitions down below. My hope is that we will begin to see real change in the way we treat our planet and that we can work towards bettering our world.

Petitions:

OCEANA Arctic Climate Change Petition

Tell Trump to #ActOnClimate

NRDC Climate Action Petition

Trump must acknowledge and address Climate Change