Did you notice how there were no blizzards on Long Island, and rarely any snow these past few winters? That is because January 2020 was recorded as the warmest January in 141 years, since 1879. January of the year 2020 was the second hottest January in the world. This proves that although 141 years seems like a long time, it truly isn’t in the comparison of how many years the earth has survived. At this rate of heightening temperatures, the end of earth is closer than expected. An example of this is that the lowest temperature in January 2019 was 2 degrees on the 31st, and the highest temperature was 59 degrees on the 24th. In January 2020 however, the lowest temperature was 20 degrees on the 18th and the highest was 68 degrees on the 11th. Therefore, in just one year the temperatures have increased pretty drastically. For it to be almost 70 degrees in the mid winter is rare and unnatural. A drastic gain in temperatures may seem innocent but in the grand scheme of things, but those numbers mean more than we think. They symbolize the deeper we are digging into the hole of climate change that we, as a humanity, have created.
The earth has been around for about 4.5 billion years and the ending of it is inevitable, but it doesn’t have to be soon. This news should be a wake up call to all those living on earth considering global warming is at an all time high right now. I feel like this information should help make some sort of environmental push to save and protect our planet. Other’s should care just as much as I do, maybe even more for this is their home too and we are taking it for granted. Climate change is a serious problem going on in the world right now and we have done enough damage already, but it is not too late to save our planet as long as we address the issue and make the population aware. The answers to solving this crisis are and should be simple but getting the whole world to cooperate and do it is difficult. We can all simply begin or continue to reduce, reuse, and recycle, lessen water waste, power your home with renewable energy, and limit pollution when transporting. Some ways you can specifically do these things are by recycling all garbage, turning off your faucet when brushing your teeth or washing your hands, putting solar panels on your roof, and walking or biking to areas not too far away or investing in an electric car if you can. Rapid decarbonisation is needed to reduce further warming of the planet. These ideas seem like no-brainers but if everyone would have been doing it in the first place we wouldn’t be where we are now.
It is said that this year, 2022, we should expect “extreme heat events,” considering 2021 was one of the planet’s seven hottest years since records began, according to the World Meteorological Organization. A common misconception is that we are too far along and it is too late to try to save the earth now. This is ultimately untrue. Although we are on thin ice and risk reaching our ‘tipping points,’ which are possible disastrous irreversible changes that we risk occurring the more the planet warms, it is not too late to start now if you haven’t already. Some potential tipping points that scientists have identified are the West Antarctic ice sheets collapsing, resulting in several meters of sea level rise, an oil spill that can damage marine ecosystems, and even casual natural disasters like hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.
Even if we don’t risk hitting these tipping points this century, we should still make efforts to care for the planet that provides us with human life and will be here for generations to come, hopefully at least. Imagine leaving this world to your hypothetical kids, when you pass away, as a damaged, almost uninhabitable, environment. I am sick and tired of politicians and people of power promising to do something about climate change and hardly ever doing anything when they are elected. I am sick and tired of human beings believing that climate change is a hoax when there is factual, scientific evidence that it is very real and very alarming. I am sick and tired of people thinking that since there’s so many people on the planet, why would they change their ways of life to protect the earth when other people can do it for them? It’s not up to anyone else. We must take full responsibility for saving our planet. To sit idly by while the planet is deteriorating is insensitive and ignorant. It’s now or never.