There I was, writing a paper about climate change at 3 a.m., and by writing a paper, I mean scrolling through Facebook. I realized that only one thing could motivate me to write this paper: the Pokemon theme song, obviously. While listening to this energetic piece of musical genius, I wondered what it would be like to explore the dangers of climate change through the eyes of Pokemon.

Rising sea levels are a dangerous consequence to global warming and one that is talked about a lot. Between melting icecaps and a general sea-level rise due to sea warming, many areas are being covered in water. In a few years, miles and miles of land in Florida will be underwater, to name only one example. But did you ever think about how tiny little Charmander can't survive if his tail gets too wet? The more water that is around, the harder it is for him to stay safe! We are putting him at risk when we chose to live in selfish, global-warming-causative ways.

You might think that this is at least good for the water-types, right? Unfortunately, there are a lot of aspects to climate change. One major issue is the acidification of oceans. The ocean absorbs CO2, and so when we emit too much CO2 into the atmosphere, the water absorbs too much of it and becomes toxic. This makes it harder for anything that lives in the ocean to find a safe spot. So though there is more water, the water is being polluted so that it is unlivable. In addition, global warming is causing droughts, so many places on land are dangerous for water-type Pokemon. Squirtle might find a place to go, but he will miss his dear friend Magikarp and other fish Pokemon who depend on healthy water.

Biodiversity loss, because of deforestation, pollution, and the using up of natural resources, is making it harder for many species to survive. This is true of Pokemon as well. By destroying trees, we are destroying the habitats of many bug and grass type Pokemon. They will have to migrate. And do you remember the episode "Bye Bye Butterfree?" Do you want to cause that pain over and over again by cutting down trees irresponsibly?

We already talked about how the icecaps are melting, but what about the ice-type Pokemon? The warmer this planet gets, the harder it is for them to find a safe place to live. Their habitats are disintegrating. We might as well just wave Froslass goodbye...

Well, if we keep on going the way we're going, at least Grimer will be happy.