Global warming is the observed phenomenon of the Earth’s average temperature rising in a progressive way. It may be a little hard to notice when we live in Miami's humid desert, but we just experienced the hottest year in recorded history! However, this development does not seem to matter to those that believe global warming, and in broader terms climate change, is not occurring; man-made, or other.
Within the United States it may be a little tough to decipher fact from fiction– especially when half of politicians believe that global warming is a hoax. This, however, is a poor representation of what the scientific community (you know, the experts on the topic) believes in regards to the topic. There is a 97 percent consensus within the scientific community with regards to climate change, which takes into account global warming.
One common criticism of the process of global warming, and climate change as a whole, is that there have always been changes in our planet, therefore we cannot attribute a cause to human processes. This is a flawed argument, however, when there seems to be an obvious correlation between human production of carbon dioxide and the increases in average global temperature over time that are being observed. It is time that we eliminate the notion that the raising global temperatures, and subsequently the changing climate, has not been affected by human actions.
According to Pew Research Center surveys conducted in 2013, 25% of Republicans view climate change as a "major threat", and 65% of Democrats had the same view point. Although there is a disparity between the two parties, both parties have to acknowledge that concern for our environment should be much higher than said percentages.
Why should this matter to us? Because simply put, this is the world we live in. This is the world, the planet in which our livelihood, and our future children's livelihoods, depend on. The beach that we go to during spring break may not be there in a few years. The beautiful animals that inhabit our everglades (many of which are endangered and already at risk) will be losing their homes and as a result be displaced from their environments!
It may not seem like an ominous and sudden threat, but the warming of our planet won't also affect our future generations; it'll affect us. It affects our air. Rising temperatures can make smog worsen and exacerbate the effects of air pollution. An accumulated exposure to smog, pollen pollution, and air pollution can lead to uncomfortable symptoms such as irritated eyes and throat. But the real risk is when the accumulated exposure leads to permanent lung damage.
In the beautiful and thriving city of Beijing China,1.6 million deaths have been attributed to outdoor air pollution every single year! That's 1.6 million unnecessary and preventable deaths. The United States has not been impacted that way, but we certainly are on the road to destruction. In the United States, air pollution alone causes 200,000 early deaths. Our numbers may not be as high as that of Beijing's but just one person dying from something so preventable is a problem. Furthermore, we shouldn't isolate ourselves from other countries that are suffering. At the end of the day, we are all humans living in the same planet. Whether or not one country suffers more than the other doesn't mean that we should turn our backs on each other. This is our planet and we all inhabit it, and we should all love it and respect it.
Global warming, and climate change in a more general sense, will not only affect the temperatures we feel in the day. As a result of human greed and carelessness, there will be long lasting and detrimental developments that will affect all of the life on Earth. If we do not reign in our excesses as a species, we may soon find ourselves headed towards a catastrophic event.
In other words, Save our planet!!
