Cheers to Leo,

First of all, he finally did it. IFunny and Instagram will no longer be filled with Oscar-less Leo memes. The 2016 Oscars was big for not only DiCaprio, but also the political playing field. All across the board there were statements on pressing issues such as race and sexual assault. Which are very important topics we need to address, nonetheless, but I was shocked by DiCaprio’s acceptance speech. When DiCaprio mentioned climate change, my heart melted like the polar ice caps. As a tree hugger, who is dedicating their career to the improvement of the environment, I was thrilled to hear someone influential finally speaking out. Yes, there are powerful people speaking out, but lets get real for a second. How often is climate change brought up on your TV, Facebook, Google and how often do you pay attention to it? When you hear about the degradation of the environment, how many people do you hear argue its validity? Do you know what a GMO is? Do you know who Monsanto is? Do you know what a carbon footprint it, or population dynamics, or what is a factory farm, or how racial, gender, religious, political and social issues come back to the environment?! What on God’s green earth is going on here?!

What did the famous Titanic star tell you? DiCaprio claims that his team had to move locations due to unusually hot weather. This weather was in Canada. The crew had to move to the southern tip of Argentina in order to find snow for the Revenant! First hand, DiCaprio saw the environmental change like the things you see in science fiction movies.

DiCaprio certainly understands what is going on. But, can you properly explain the difference between climate change and global warming? Being a future decision maker in this world, will you be able to hold an argument when it comes to the environment?

Introduction to Climate Change 101:

Climate Change is referring to the overall change in climate throughout the world. Just because the average temperature of the earth is increasing (Global Warming) that does not mean there will be no cold weather. The science behind this explains that the overall temperatures, taken from all lengths of the world will be higher, but it can lead to massive weather changes, even snowstorms. If the weather is hotter, there will be more water evaporating and expanding creating drastic downpours. So when FOX news tells you that since it snowed, Climate Chance is not real, you correct them.

Okay so now you know what is it, well here is the science behind it that DiCaprio was too choked up to tell you.

In the atmosphere, there are these things called Green House Gases (GHGs). GHG’s are involved in climate control as well as blocking harmful UV rays. These gases are not so scary once you hear them; water, dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, methane, CFCs and some more. In their natural amounts, these gases are harmless. Yet, the unnatural amounts we are putting into the atmosphere is messing with its homeostasis. Each chemical has a natural cycle it goes through to maintain a balance, however, we are adding much more to the system that the environment is not able to handle. The carbon emissions are helping to keep the heat in while CFCs and Ozone present a different issue.

I am sure you have heard of the Ozone hole. A CFC is a Chlorofluorocarbon that can come in aerosols, for example hairspray. Ozone is an oxygen compound with the ability to block the harmful UV rays and it has just one more oxygen than regular Dioxide (what we breathe). Adding CFC’s unnaturally will result in dioxide and a ClO. But forget about the ClO for now, we are just getting into the basics. The UV light that Ozone is protecting you from is the same thing you are exposed to in tanning beds. If you do not know the repercussions of tanning beds, I suggest you look that up.

So now we come to the point where there is direct sunlight and UV exposure over the polar region and more carbon, methane, etc. in the atmosphere to hold this heat in. This results in the melting of polar ice caps and the current issues with sea level rise. If you do not believe in sea level rise, Google the island nation of Kiribati, then get back to the article.

Did you do it?

Good job.

The polar ice caps hold more fresh water than we could ever imagine. Only 2 percent of all freshwater is accessible to humans. That freshwater is desalinizing the ocean, inevitably causing an imbalance in the ecosystem. Certain organisms need specific conditions to complete their “niches” (like a job) to keep their ecosystem healthy. While the ocean needs the salt, the people are gaining the salt. It has crept its way into crops of small island nations (cough cough^^^^) making it inhabitable. People cannot drink their water or eat their crops and there are not many nations willing to host these refugees. The worst part is that it is not even their fault.

Everyone contributes to it, because we are so focused on our short-term goals and our tiny lives. It is I, it is you, and it is everyone. But if we all made one little decision differently it would make a huge difference. So all you tree huggers raise your Camelbak water bottles to DiCaprio for trying to make our world a cleaner place.