As a teenager myself, I’ve seen just how bad the past few generations have messed up our planet. Why are we expected to suffer the consequences when it was out of our control? The time to stand up for our planet is now, and we have to act before it’s too late. Those who deny that climate change is happening are simply afraid to face the truth. This is happening, and we need to do what we can to save what we have left.
Climate change isn’t some future, it’s already here. It’s time for us to recognize that climate change affects us all, and we can no longer deny the problem. The extreme weather events we’re experiencing are becoming more common and more severe. Wildfires are just one of the examples of how our world is changing. They are disastrous and get worse with every year. We must recognize these as the urgent wake-up calls they are.
According to NASA, the global temperature has already increased by about 1.2°C since the late 1800s, and we are seeing the effects of this warming across the globe. Our oceans are getting warmer, ice sheets are melting, sea levels are rising and glaciers are retreating. The United Nations explained that scientists have clearly identified fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas) as the primary contributors to climate change. Humans are primarily responsible for climate change, and we should be the ones to fix it.
Some may argue that if the Earth is warming, we wouldn’t be having these extreme winters. However, that argument is weak and doesn’t have facts to back it up. Scientists have explained that climate change causes both an increase in average and extreme temperatures around the world. Even though we might experience a harsh winter or a snowstorm, it doesn’t mean global warming isn’t happening. In fact, these extreme cold events are actually a sign of the weather patterns being affected by climate change.
It is pretty clear that there is a problem that needs to be solved and it isn’t too late to make a difference. Small things such as saving energy at home, throwing away less food, changing your home’s source of energy and switching to an electric vehicle could make a huge impact. You could also participate in peaceful protests to allow the government to realize how big of an issue climate change really is. Greta Thunberg has taken action by creating Fridays for Future, which is a youth-led movement where young activists sat in front of the Swedish parliament every school day for three weeks to protest against the lack of action on the climate crisis.
In all, there is so much you can do to save your home. We only have one planet, and it’s up to us to protect it. Our generation has the power to make a real difference, but we have to start today.
