By now, we’ve all heard of global warming and the greenhouse effect. For years, we’ve all continued to ignore it and move on with our daily lives, not considering what it could be doing to our planet. But recently, a United Nations group called the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has reported how destructive climate change is becoming.
Climate change refers to changes patterns of global climate caused by increased carbon dioxide levels produced from the use of fossil fuels. This has recently been affecting every continent at rapid speed, and the IPCC warns it will become even worse if greenhouse emissions aren’t controlled.
According to the IPCC, ice caps and sea ice in the Arctic are melting, water supplies are starting to come under stress, and coral reefs are dying. This causes fish to migrate to the poles, or even become extinct. In addition, heat waves as well as violent, heavy rains are becoming more and more intense. Not only are ocean levels rising, causing problems for coastal residents, but the water is also becoming acidic because of the absorption of carbon dioxide.
Many people don’t realize that carbon dioxide comes from things we use everyday. Driving cars and burning things such as wood emit extremely large amounts of carbon dioxide. Power plants contribute to this as well when they burn things in their factories.
According the their report, food supply could be at serious risk within the next few years. Even worse, people are at risk of death, injury or health problems, and mass migrations may occur as well. Unfortunately, people in poverty will be affected most, even though they have the least to do with causing these problems. Although it seems like this is all just a future problem, it’s already happening right now.
Luckily, governments all around the world have been making effort to help the environment. For example, the US federal law called Clean Air Act requires the EPA to enforce rules that will protect the country from contaminants in the air that are dangerous to people’s health. However, this is just not enough.
If we really want our planet and organisms to stay alive we all need to try and help. Climate change will not be fixed without a global effort. One way people can help is purchasing hybrid or electric cars. Driving these can dramatically decrease the carbon dioxide in our air. There are also many websites people can visit to become more educated on ways to reduce their carbon footprint. If we don’t do something fast, reality will destroy us all.