Opinion Piece

Climate Change: Important or Not?





We have all heard of it, some people believe it and some just choose to ignore it. But it's the one topic that we can not ignore, as it is rapidly affecting our wonderful Mother Earth.There are various views on climate change from all types of perspectives, but the two main perspectives seem to be we either care about the effects of climate change, or we shrug it off as another one of the world's problems. Whatever the opinion, we as humans will determine the future for this Earth. There are multiple causes for climate change, some more truthful than others, and some completely crazy. But I think we can all agree that something needs to be done.

Climate change was first brought into perspective in the 19th century when scientists and theorists noticed that the polar ice caps were starting to melt at an alarming rate, and ever since then scientists have constantly been monitoring the severity of this unnatural phenomenon. There are many causes for this phenomenon including waste, fossil fuels, and unnatural production of gases and air pollution. Slowly but surely the greenhouse gases from the defined factors above have been eating away at the ozone layer surrounding the Earth. You may be wondering why the ozone layer is so important, and that is because it is protecting us from the intense and unbearable heat of the sun. As the ozone layer continues to be eaten away, the Earth continues heating up due to the intense heat of the sun. Animals have become major targets, their habitats are becoming barren and destroyed which is unfair as they haven't even contributed to Climate Change in any way. Animals have rights to and need to be protected as we head into this uncertain and unstable future.

Every year the world produces massive amounts of waste. Approximately 1.2 trillion gallons of untreated sewage, stormwater and industrial waste is dumped into the US waters each year. Appallingly due to this dreadful waste, more than three million kids die a year from increasing environmental disasters. Shockingly global sea level has risen eight inches in the last century, and is continuing to increase as global warming becomes more and more severe. Weather is another factor that is being affected by global warming too. As the years progress, the intensity and severity of tropical storms have increased dramatically shifting and shaping weather patterns, and making it harder to predict the weather cycles. Because of this it is becoming harder to warn and protect individual countries about severe storms and constantly changing weather patterns.

Small islands and settlements will be destroyed by the increasing level of the ocean, drinkable water will decrease as more water dries out. Because of this heat water becomes infected by thriving parasites and immense rubbish. Humans will not be physically prepared for the intense heat and many will die. Warmer environments will destroy colder animal habitats and make living conditions very unpleasant for both humans and animals alike. Man-made structures another unintentional target of climate change will be affected. As the heat increases cracks will weaken concrete buildings making them unsafe and unpredictable. In the past humans have always talked about space exploration and how we need to find a new world but all I see here is a repeat. All we will do is inhabit another world and do what we did to this world all over again. It's not the world that's the problem, it's us, and we need to change if we are even going to consider the idea of space exploration.

There is nothing good to come from Climate Change, and the true outcome of climate change is now determined on how we act now as humans. Plenty of people are happy to ignore the drastic effects, profiting from climate change instead. But in the end every single human being will be affected by the devastating effects and changes that will change our world forever. Right now a lot of people are choosing to ignore climate change, they are just shrugging it off as a little blip on the radar, but alas it is not. Climate change will not only affect settlements and health, but will also drastically change the economy. Even now petrol is nearing the end of its days. Very soon there will be no more petrol left and car transport will indefinitely cease. Not only is petrol running out, but all greenhouse fuel supplies will also soon be sucked dry. In the near future we will have to rely on renewable energy such as hydrothermal, solar and hydropower. In some ways, this may be a good thing as we start learning to rely on energy sources which have no real negative effect on the Earth. For people who love racing motorbikes and cars, this will become a problem and they will no longer be able to use vehicles such as these. Ironically these people are usually the ones who are contributing to climate change, and will be one of the groups majorly affected when petrol runs out.

Although climate change has many bad effects there are also some effects that may help out humans. One in particular known as genocide. As humans develop better medicine and healthcare, humans constantly exceed the expected death age. Thus increasing the population. As the population increases the demand for food becomes bigger, and more people are looking for work. Eventually, the population will be so large that we will no longer have room on the planet, and will have to start thinking about alternative living. Already there are 1.6 billion people without homes. As our population increases, this number will rapidly increase. Not only will more people be homeless since the population is increasing, but also because storms are becoming more severe. Houses will become more prone to damage as storm surges begin to last longer and be more powerful. All of these subsequent impacts will have a major effect on living conditions.

There are various ways to slow climate change but I believe that too much damage has already been done. To fully stop the effects of climate change we must band together, and most importantly we must not lose hope. Already people are getting together, and organising worldwide action when it comes to waste. New Zealand has a terrible way of dealing with waste, a lot of our waste is sent offshore to China for them to deal with which is very shocking and disgraceful for New Zealand. New Zealanders pride themselves in being a clean healthy country and yet we send our rubbish off to become someone else’s problem. Tourists from all around the world come to New Zealand specifically to marvel at our beautiful scenery, and yet, if we continue on the way we are going our scenery will be destroyed in a matter of time. It's time to act. Climate change is real and is approaching us faster than we think. Very soon there will be little we can do to stop these drastic changes to our Earth, before it's too late we need to act. WE NEED TO WAKE UP!








Checked by Archie and Louis