Our climate is changing. Anyone with half of a brain cell would be able to understand this. Our weather is becoming drastically more erratic and dangerous, our worldly temperatures are rising to frightening levels, wildlife all around our planet are becoming endangered and going extinct at levels never before seen in people's lives. And it's our fault. The environment and it's changes is an issue so pressing, so urgent and important that I dare to say it easily beats out any other social or political issue our species has ever faced.
Some people have tried to deny our planets changing climate over the years. Others have accepted the climate is changing but have insisted it is not at the fault of humans, merely it is a natural cycle of the Earth. Both of these groups of individuals are completely and utterly wrong. Over 97% of scientists today agree that the climate is indeed changing and that the human species is the cause of this change. Human's are causing a drastic greenhouse effect with the amounts of Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and other serious greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere that our planet has not seen in over 1 million years.
The molecules of Carbon Dioxide given off by the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal have become too numerous in our atmosphere for the natural cycle of photosynthesis in the world's forests to properly handle them. They, along with other serious greenhouse gases, are trapping sunlight and it's heat inside the planet's atmosphere. With no place for this heat to escape, it is warming the Earth's temperature causing devastation to coastal cities, the Arctic and its icebergs, and to already warm areas of the planet who suffering serious heat waves.
And how do we know it is the Carbon Dioxide coming from humans that causes such horrible consequences? How do we know that it is not simply the volcanoes of the Earth? At a molecular level, the CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) given off by volcanoes and the CO2 given off by the burning of fossil fuels actually do present themselves differently. It seems that the volcanic CO2 is hardly if at all causing an issue. It is, without a doubt, the human race.
The heating of the planet is only one issue in the more encompassing problem that is the destruction of the environment. The human race, with our out of control population, contributes to the deadly pollution of the Earths oceans and forests. We are throwing away man-made products that cannot break down for thousands of years. We are creating waste products with nowhere to go, often ending up in the stomachs or wrapped around the unfortunate wildlife who encounter them.
It is estimated that the average American creates over 1,569.5 pounds of garbage each year. That is 500,513,550,000 pounds of garbage a year. And this is only one country in the world. Our collective footprint on this Earth is more than it can handle, the planet is shaking under our massive weight and every other living creature is suffering because of this.
The other major facet of the environment and it's suffering comes in the form of factory farming. Factory farming is the idea of making farm animals used for food such as cows, pigs, and chickens into a near machine on an assembly line. It is farming on a massive and strict scale. Because of the overly large amount of animals being raised for meat or animal byproducts, these animals are currently contributing 37% of the yearly methane production of this planet. Methane (CH4) is a greenhouse gas nearly 20 times more potent than CO2. Not to mention that the deforestation to make land for these animals to graze or to grow their food accounts for 2.4 billion tons of CO2 being released into the atmosphere each year.
The number one cause of deforestation in the worlds rainforests is currently for the grazing of cattle. Cows and other farm animals are beautiful additions to our planet, but they were never supposed to reach the numbers humans have caused them to reach. The slaughter or use of these animals for people's food is a cause so detrimental to the well-being of the environment that many climate scientists have recommended that the number one thing a person could do to help reduce climate change would be to take on a vegan diet.
Our planets climate is changing. And it is changing quickly. By the end of the century, places like Glacier National Park, the Great Barrier Reef, the Alps, the Amazon Rainforest, Venice, New York City, and all of Hawaii could be destroyed or gone. They are on a list that includes many, many more. Some of the most beautiful and cherished parts of our world could be gone due to greed and a refusal to act. The effects of this change on our planet are scary to think about and even scarier to accept.
We do have the power to change this course we have set ourselves on. Scientists have the technology for the human race to live sustainably, solar and wind power offer our species a way to live harmoniously with the planet we call home. We have the ability to elect officials who recognize and care about environmental destruction. To make simple changes at home with how we handle our waste and what activities we take part in. We have the power, we have the brains, we can make a positive change in the well-being of our planet. We come from millions of generations of evolved problem solvers who learned to survive and live peacefully with the Earth. "Each of us is a runner in the longest and most dangerous relay race there ever was, and at this moment, we hold the baton in our hands."
