Makaya Hall

The world is changing as we know it. The earth is getting hotter by the day because of global warming. Global warming is the long-term heating of Earth’s surface observed since the pre-industrial period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere.

Climate change isn’t that bad and life will find a way according to the University of Hall. Many people are in denial of climate change because it is a threat to our world view. When we are faced with uncertain threats about things in the distant future, our brains will invent all kinds of excuses according to psychologist Daniel Kahnneman.

Stanley Cohen, the sociologist, states that climate change is not about not knowing or refusing to know, it’s about choosing not to notice or talk about it so they don’t rock the boat.

According to the Columbus dispatch, September 2014 was the 355th month in a row with higher than average temperatures. The September national temperature was 66.2°F, 1.3°F above average. This ranked as the 26th warmest September in the 120-year period of record. The average maximum (daytime) September temperature for the contiguous U.S. was 78.3°F, 0.5°F above the 20th century average, ranking near the median value in the 120-year period of record. The average minimum (nighttime) September temperature was 54.1°F, 2.2°F above the 20th century average, the eighth warmest on record according to National Centers for Environmental Information.

Climate change is affecting Alaska’s polar bears and other polar bears around the globe, and it’s affecting the bears’ populations in different ways and over different timelines. There are around 22,000 polar bears left in the wild according to National Today, but man-made climate change and global warming are making life tough for these impressive, powerful predators. By helping protect the polar bear, we’re helping to make sure the Arctic food chain stays healthy, for the benefit of wildlife and people in and beyond the Arctic.

Alaska is not the only place in the world that is affected by global warming. Typhoon Mangkhut’s passage through the Philippines in 2018 affected more than 250,000 people across the country and left at least 59 dead due to torrential rainfall. According to Germanwatch, extreme weather events caused a total of 455 deaths in the country that year — 0.43 per 100,000 inhabitants — as well as more than 4,540 million US dollars in economic losses.

The Indian subcontinent is another major victim of extreme heat, floods and sandstorms, among other devastating natural events. In 2018 the extreme heat caused more than 2,000 deaths. Many people around the world are suffering due to human activity. We know the solution to this problem, but our human nature continues to allow us to destroy the only earth that we have.

In the year of 2022, Texas fires have already burned 400K more acres than in all of 2021. The 1148 Fire at Possum Kingdom Lake has burned 500 acres in Palo Pinto County and destroyed several homes, but spared Lanpher’s. To the south, firefighters continue to battle the Chalk Mountain blaze across about 6,700 acres, while new wildfires continue to flare up every day. No injuries have been reported in these fires, but more than two dozen homes and other structures were destroyed.

According to the Fort Worth Star Telegram, all of Tarrant County is under “extreme” drought, the second most severe level, with parts of the county to the southwest now suffering “exceptional” drought. “We expect to see wildfires for a while,” said Erin O’Connor with the Texas A&M Forest Service in College Station. Meteorologist Allison Prater said there’s a high probability of temperatures remaining above normal for at least three months.

Climate change is more than just science, It involves economics, morals, human rights, ideology and technology. As humans we can learn how to sacrifice and how to acknowledge what is going to happen in the future. To learn more about climate change visit https://youtu.be/oJAbATJCugs?t=5