We are at a point where climate change is basically its own category of news now. We hear stories everyday about the increased frequency of intense storms, flooding, species that are struggling; the list goes on and on.

It's hard to believe that climate change is still even being considered a "debate" by some, but when looking at where political figures accept campaign donations from, the picture becomes a lot clearer. Big industries that create negative environmental impacts are responsible for very hefty political donations, but "climate deniers" don't want to talk about this either because it undermines their argument.

Another part of this problem is society's inability to think about the world beyond their individual comfortable realities. It's so easy to get caught up in your own world and not think about what's happening in realities that aren't your own, but keeping an open mind and being aware of the environment beyond your immediate borders is a crucial part of understanding large scale issues like climate change and even immigration. There is a changing world beyond your suburb.

Not everyone lives the same comfortable reality as you. Just because you are not directly experiencing extreme weather events does not mean they are not happening. It's easy to wave things off, and see climate change as distant and far-off, but for so many people, it's not far-off; it's happening in their backyards, and your denial is putting a hinderance on working towards stopping the speed of its effects.

Just because you are not experiencing direct effects (yet) doesn't make it "not real."

Cape Town was on the brink of running out of water and a report from last year said that 700 million people could be facing water scarcity by 2030.

Species are going extinct at unprecedented rates. 1,000,000 species are currently at risk.

The increase in food demand coupled with irregular weather patterns will continue to affect crop cultivation.

The Amazon Rainforest is being destroyed, which will affect the planet's carbon storage.

And this is just a small bullet list of things that have recently been coming to light. Maybe you don't live near the rainforest, but you do need clean air to breathe and water to drink. Maybe you don't own a farm, but you purchse produce that comes from farms. All of these things indirectly affect everyone on this planet. Climate change doesn't discriminate.