Before I allow this presidential election to come to its full bittersweet end, I want to take a few moments to discuss the state of this election. I watched every presidential debate, save the vice president one back in early October. What really struck me, and many other people, was the near complete absence of discussion of issues. The only service the debates served was to rehash the already tired campaigns of ‘Make America Great Again’ and ‘Stronger Together’. Over and over again Bill Clinton’s sex life and political failures were brought up, somehow proving Hillary Clinton could never be president. Again and again the emails were brought up, which were time and time again investigated and forgiven by the FBI. Again and again the past was brought up and sidetracked as “locker room talk”. Again and again, both candidates attacked, not the issues, but the person. This is, frankly, childish. Ignore the issues, the things that are plaguing this country and world, in order to attack your opponent’s personal and past lives.

A debate, as defined by the Merriam Dictionary is “a formal discussion on a particular topic in a public meeting or legislative assembly, in which opposing arguments are put forward.” No where in that definition is attacking personal matters brought up. No where is it brought up that the issues can be ignored in favor of low blows.

Do no get me wrong, the emails were and are a major issue. What Donald Trump has said, especially recently, is alarming to say the least. These things are non-presidential, childish and dangerous even, but they should not be discussed and argued disguised as serious debate. It is not Trump’s duty to question the legitimacy of Clinton’s email debacle. It is not Clinton’s duty to show the world Trump’s past failings, his past words. The duty rests on us, on the media. The debates are there, as the dictionary defines, to formally argue about issues that can be solved.

Granted, some things were brought up. The work force and economics, immigration, and terrorism are, of course, the major high lights. However, it is important to notice the complete absence of certain issues.

According to an article by US News, “We may have just passed a point of no return when it comes to Earth's climate.” On September 28th, Climate Central sent out a tweet stating the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels had risen over 400 parts per million (ppm). This has been regarded by many within the scientific community to be a tipping point for our plant. This may be the last time we can mediate and reverse the effects of climate change, much above this and we may be unable to curb climate change.

Interestingly, the Vice Presidential debate took place six days after this announcement, the second presidential debate took place five days after that. In December President Obama and nearly all the world leaders signed the Paris Climate Agreement. This year represented both the ability for the world to come together symbolically and also as our potential last stand.

So, how much airtime has climate change and related issues gotten?

Answer: Five minutes and twenty-seven seconds over all four debates this season.

One more time; five minutes and twenty-seven seconds. This averages out to be one minute and thirty seconds per debate (plus the VP debate). According to this article, that is about 2 percent of the total time. This is the same for the 2012, 2008, and 2004 elections. A lot has changed since we seriously discussed climate change with Bush and Al Gore in 2000.

This absence of conversation on climate change is absurd. When one candidate tweeted how “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.” Even joking how “it's really cold outside, they are calling it a major freeze, weeks ahead of normal. Man, we could use a big fat dose of global warming!” and the other has vocally supported the Keystone Pipeline and fracking, both dangers to indigenous peoples, waterways, the environment and animals in it, and to our world through increased warming.

When 138 present congresspeople (38 in the Senate and 148 in the House) deny the claims of 97% of scientists worldwide and years of solid data even though they claim “I am not a scientist” (Marco Rubio), means there is something deeply wrong with our politicians, politics, and education systems.

When candidates can proudly say they do not believe in climate change and have it as a main point of their campaign something is deeply wrong.

When lobbyists and large corporations like the Koch Brothers or ExxonMobile can hide scientific data from the public and spend millions to silence the voices of scientists, politicians, concerned citizens, native populations, and the world as a whole there is something terribly wrong.

We no longer have the privilege or the time to bicker about if climate change is real or if it is caused by human actions(it is, ask nearly any scientist). We can no longer idly watch as record breaking storms and wildfires ravage our country. We cannot watch as forests get clear cut and entire species go extinct when their ice melts. We cannot wait four more years, or even two more for a scientifically literate congress. We no longer have all the time in the world, the world is slowly rebelling against us.

The privileged few in the United States and other industrialized countries will not immediately feel the effects of climate change. However, the naive populations who have depended on nature for eons and the poor farmers who scratch by and the millions of people living on coastal cities around the world will. Indeed many have already begun feeling the impacts of run away warming. Livelihoods have already been decimated. Cultures have been relocated, the lucky few, or completely abandoned.

Climate change is real and it is happening now! Climate change may be the most important and issue we face today, perhaps we ever will as a species. It is our duty, as humans and conscious compassionate people, to fix our mistakes before it is too late.

I repeat what I wrote about last week. Vote for those people who will vote to uphold the Paris Agreement. Vote for representatives who listen to scientists. Vote for those who will do everything in their power to curb the effects we have on the climate and on the natural world. Vote compassionate leaders who will serve you and millions others and not millions of green bills of money.

We may be the last generation who have the power the stop what generations before us have created. This is our duty, there is no higher calling. Do not allow future generations to judge us for the actions we did not take. Do not fail now, when we have the means to end suffering, loss, and death.

I plead you all to do what you can. Write to your representatives; local, congresspeople, federal. Vote with you conscious and with reason. This is not about you or me, this is about the millions of people who will die or be displaced or who will lose their livelihoods, their ancestry. This is about our future generations. This is about the animals we are driving back with sticks and stones of carbon dioxide and methane, with orange bulldozers and chainsaws. This is about a future where we coexist with the mother we all share; our earth.

Finally, take a look at Leonardo Dicaprio’s new documentary on climate change. This will open your eyes, show you the real truth. It is ugly and terrible, but this is who we are, unless we change our ways. There is no more time for discussion. What we do in the next five years will either be strides towards a cleaner unified planet or stumbling off towards our graves.