You may have heard, probably through social media, that Earth has officially reached its carbon tipping point. Scientists monitoring Earth’s carbon dioxide, who have been warning us all along of this possibility, discovered about three weeks ago that Earth’s atmosphere has surpassed 400 ppm (parts per million) of CO₂. Scientists call it the tipping point because it is unlikely that Earth will, in the foreseeable future, ever drop below 400 ppm again (bare minor or outlying fluctuations). Scientists have been warning us about this for years now, for decades really, had we legitimized their evidences back then. We had all this time to make strides to, at the very least, halt climate change in its tracks before reaching this tipping point. But, alas, the tipping point has been realized and now begins the tumultuous journey into the vortex of extreme temperatures and weather conditions.

Data from the National Weather Service shows that September 2016 was the warmest September on record. They also show that this past summer was the hottest summer on record. Climate change is not just a come and go kind of ordeal. The current trends suggest nearly exponential increases in temperature, especially in the arctic areas. Along with higher temperatures comes acidification of the ocean, which will eventually lead to the endangerment of thousands of marine species that are essential to aquatic ecosystems. The ice caps are melting at astronomical rates, which will lead to an increase in sea level, submerging some of the largest coastal cities in America like Miami and Los Angeles.

Scientists are predicting extinction of thousands of species, including humans far down the road if we don’t take action. Albert Einstein, over fifty years ago, provided us with a chilling quote: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” Well, my friend, hundreds of honey and bumblebee species are in critically endangered states, and thousands more are seeing significant population reductions. If we lose bees, we lose our food source and the food source of herbivores; without herbivores, there are no carnivores.

So why isn’t the media talking about this? One of the greatest crises in human history has been confirmed and is quickening its suffocating grip, yet the media still thinks a few scary clowns are more important for news ratings. No news outlet wants to tackle this issue because they have financial and political ties to the industries and corporations that would be out of business if people started worrying about the environment.

Interestingly, Trump and Clinton hardly even mention climate change. Clinton says she supports clean energy, yet her voting record shows fracking support. And Trump doesn’t even believe in science, which is step number one to understanding the issue in full. The fact that it is rarely mentioned in the debates, by their own mouths, or by media coverage of the platforms and issues makes it pretty obvious what’s going on. Unfortunately, our country holds profit in higher regard than Earth. I mean look at the scientific evidence. The evidence is clear and undeniable that climate change is happening and it will affect our future generations detrimentally. With such clear scientific findings, it absolutely boggles my mind as to why politicians on both sides of the aisle refuse to take this issue seriously and bring it to the forefront of their platforms.

Climate change should be a national crisis and we should be literally changing our entire infrastructure and lifestyles as a country, yet we are arguing about hand size and email scandals. The American agenda must transform from a profit driven agenda to a survival driven agenda, because at this point, this tipping point, it is now or never to take action. We can no longer sit around idly and allow the media to infiltrate our lives with stories or scandals that are just meant to blind us from the true problems.

It is time for us to wake up to the profit-driven agenda that utilizes brainwashing as the weapon. Climate change is a reality, an extraordinarily pressing reality, and if we don’t wake up and start fighting the institutions that blind our eyes and shut our mouths, we will continue to hear about tax returns and Wall Street speeches until the world is on fire and everyone says, “how did this happen?”