Climate change; we hear about it more and more in the news, discussions and politics, but do we really know what it is?
Climate change is the issue that a vast majority of Americans say needs strong government action but that most Republican lawmakers and oil and coal companies deny. It is also the issue that will be our downfall more quickly than any other, and will have the great lasting effect on our lives if we do not start to take it more seriously, and quickly.
The effects of climate change can already be seen. The United States is resettling people in Louisiana because they are losing their home because of climate change.As it goes unresolved, severe weather increases, sea levels rise, seasons shift and the temperature rises.
The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report confirming that there is a 90 to 100 percent probability that human activity will cause extremes in nighttime and daytime temperatures globally.
Pew Research Center found that the United States and China are some of the least concerned countries with climate change, yet are also the countries that continue to have the greatest annual CO2 output and harm the environment.
Until this year, very little was being done in the United States and some other major countries like China and India to combat climate change. This year, Pope Francis addressed the issue of climate change and other environmental destruction in his papal encyclical.
President Obama has also recently been working hard to address climate change with the Green Climate Fund, for which he included a $500 million pledge in his 2016 budget and $750 in the 2017 budget.
As these steps move forward and changes begin to occur, climate change continues to be unresolved because of the lack of knowledge and support from many of the powerful people in the country.
It will be the poor and vulnerable in the United States and around the world who suffer the effects first because the rich can protect themselves for a while. At this point, Congress is refusing to support the efforts of Obama and most Republicans refuse to acknowledge the existence of climate change as an issue.
Without support for improvement, climate change will take down the planet before we have the chance to stop it. We must work quickly and work soon to change the habits of the planet before it becomes our downfall.
