The earth is dying.
Or our species and all other living species on earth are dying, rather. That's one of biggest misconceptions when talking about climate change. The earth isn't dying; the earth will live on. Our planet will still be here even after the worst of climate change has happened. We likely won't, though.
The biggest moral dilemma in human history is climate change. When our ancestors look back on this time they will be amazed by our inaction in the face of such a looming threat. The Republicans are too concerned about abortion and stopping the president, and the Democrats don't want to bite big oil money that feeds them. Our petty domestic squabbles are truly small apples when compared to the catastrophic change coming. The thing is we don't see this type of change overnight; a temperature change of a few degrees centigrade could wreak havoc on ecosystems all around the world.
15 of the warmest years on record have happened in the last 15 years. 2015 was by far the hottest year in recorded history and surpassed the largest year to year temperature change ever recorded If you are younger than 20 years old, you haven't experienced a year that was colder than the recorded average. Also it already looks like 2016 will be warmer than 2015 according to NASA climate scientist Gavin Schmidt who says the probability is 99 percent. If these numbers feel too lofty or you're left saying, "Why should I care?" as you pump gas into your SUV and head to the beach this summer, that beach may not be there when sea levels rise. Scientist predict if a section of Antarctica called Amundsen Sea sector collapsed and melted, global sea levels would rise by 10 feet. Miami beach would be completely underwater. Virginia Beach boardwalk gone. The Outer Banks would be almost unrecognizable.
This may seem very macabre, and you may have already stopped reading due to the subject of climate change as it's easier to pretend it's not happening when you don't talk or think about it. But our generation doesn't have that luxury; we must act. We must do something. We are the generation that could actually slow this thing down. We could even reverse it gradually. However, this won't happen overnight, and right now it might seem like an inconvenience to take the bus to class or ride your bike instead of driving your car. Or writing to your congress members and senators to tell them that you do care about the future of our planet might seem like too much work, but do you really want to look back when the true effects of climate change are felt and wonder why you didn't do anything?
