Every time it snows, I happen to see one repetitive joke after another about climate change. "I guess science is wrong!" "There's snow on my front yard, where's your climate change now?" "The planet is warming, huh?" These jokes not only are in poor taste and are so common they've become extremely tacky, but they also reflect the views of many Americans today.
An extreme example of climate change denial falls in the hands of the one and only Donald Trump, who tweeted that "the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive." Despite the multitude of Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter updates mocking his stance on climate change, his beliefs aren't uncommon in this country.
Does anyone else remember when Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe brought a snowball onto the Senate floor in an attempt to prove to President Obama and other government officials that climate change was not real? Stating that snow disproves climate change is the equivalent of someone stating that gravity does not exist because a balloon can float upwards instead of falling to the ground.
In Woodward Oklahoma, skeptics line the streets. From the 80-year-old Genevieve Duncan, who referred to climate change as the "most ludicrous myth that has been forced upon the Earth since the world began," to wind tech instructor Jack Day who, when asked if humans are causing climate changed, responded that his "instinct is no." Historically, forms of climate change have occurred before on much smaller scales. However, this time the process is being sped up to an extreme scale that could be detrimental to the human population.
During the year 2014, presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and Senator James Inhofe brought the topic of climate change to a minor debate. Senator Sanders supplied scientific evidence, proven facts, and events happening around the world while Senator Inhofe seemed to attack the concept based on solely his opinion, referring to talks about climate change as "global warming slumber parties."
The source of much confusion in conversations about climate change is this: climate change and the weather are not the same thing. If one looks at the definitions of both words alone, one can recognize the clear difference. Where weather is solely "the state of the air and atmosphere at a particular time and place," climate change is "a change in global or regional climate patterns... attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels." Where weather looks at the smaller picture, climate change is on a far larger scale that has to be looked at over time.
According to CNN reporter John D. Sutter, "Climate change is [a] form of terror...one we're wreaking on ourselves." At the current time, we're at approximately "0.85 degrees Celsius...above the average temperature on Earth before massive carbon emissions began." It is predicted that our planet will hit two degrees celsius by about midcentury. Two degrees celsius doesn't seem like much of a difference, but the results will make the extreme four year drought currently in California look menial. It's currently thought by scientists that this two degree difference will cause a 20-year megadrought, drying out a predicted eight states. A cheesy sci-fi movie will become reality; imagine floods, droughts, huge forest fires, the extreme depletion of resources and animal populations, and devastating poverty across the world.
Put your opinions aside and think about the facts, proven by a multitude of scientists around the world. Think about your future relatives generations down the line that will suffer due to your inability to care about your own planet. Even if climate change is proven to be a hoax like skeptics say, at least positive changes will have still made our planet a healthier place.
