One of the larger issues that defines and will continue to define my generation for years to come is how we are handling climate change and global warming. In many, often surprising, ways it is a controversial issue. But the issue itself is within the controversy.
One of the larger issues that defines and will continue to define my generation for years to come is how we are handling climate change and global warming. In many, often surprising, ways it is a controversial issue. But the issue itself is within the controversy.
With all the scientific evidence and data that all but proves that climate change is real and is quickly getting out of hand, it is appalling to me that there is still a large movement of people who not only deny that it is happening, but actively fight legislation aimed at fixing the issue.
The evidence is not only all around us but it is also completely observable. Glaciers are melting, devastating hurricanes are becoming more frequent, super sized snow storms are sweeping the nation, California is in a drought, and our view of the night sky is all but completely obscured from view in the city. And this is nowhere near all of the effects of climate change.
Ninety-seven percent of peer reviewed climate scientists are in agreement that global climate change is taking place and that it is a result of human activity. We are forced to wonder why such an overwhelming majority of scientists are overlooked and ignored now when the conversation is at the forefront of people’s minds in today’s society.
If anything we should be fighting to create a better world for the next generation who will be the ones living in the world we create for them. It seems unfair to allow the earth’s ecosystem to be completely destroyed, when oil interests are the only reason we have not moved to clean renewable energy.
Scientists agree that the world can be saved by any number of clean energy initiatives and that most if not all are entirely ready and waiting to go, but are simply awaiting infrastructure funding from the federal government.
But unfortunately one of the main arguments against mending climate change is that it would be too expensive. However at least for America, I believe we would be able to afford it by making healthy budget cuts in areas where we spend too much money as it is, like the military.
But this is not exclusively an American issue. Many other nations have begun to start pulling their weight in the fight for global change, because at the end of the day if we are going to affect global change, it needs to be done as a global community.
With time quickly running out, we can no longer afford to waste energy catering to people who deny the existence of climate change. At this point it is clear that people need to either join the fight to reverse the damage we have done to the Earth, or they need to get out of the way of those trying to improve the world we live in.
