Climate change, or global warming in this case, is a problem caused by the deforestation of our planet’s natural forests. This is a worldwide problem, and results from increased greenhouse gases within the atmosphere, which heat up the temperature of our planet. The trees in the Amazon create 20% of the Earth’s oxygen. Deforestation causes the change in climate, due to the fact that trees take in and store carbon for them to create, and carbon is the most abundant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere at 82%. They don’t just take in carbon dioxide however, they also release it right back into the atmosphere… When they are cut down. Deforestation is the second largest cause of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere caused by humans, accounting for 6-17% of the CO2. Climate change is an issue of itself already, and causes many other problems.
Those who have created this problem is also those who are affected by it, us humans. Those greenhouse gases we are pumping into our atmosphere at a quickening rate cause the Earth’s temperature to increase. Due to this, the polar ice caps are beginning to melt away, thus raising the sea level. We have already seen flooding in places such as Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, which have had to spend millions of dollars in order to repair worn-down roads, and to send vacuuming trucks in to suck up all of the salt water. While the tidal wave floods here and in other places have only been one or two feet high, they can still cause problems such as seizing traffic, contaminate wells, and ruin lawns and forests. Even just recently, in Bangladesh, there has been major flooding, with over 250,000 homes damaged, more than 25,000 missing peoples, and 38 officially confirmed deaths, which mostly included drowned children.
This also affects the animals all around the world. Like we previously mentioned, the glaciers in the North and South Pole are melting, which affects one species, polar bears. This species relies heavily in the icy grounds for hunting, traveling, resting, mating, and raising their young. With their dependance on the sea ice, low reproductive rate and long generation spans, this population has been gradually depleting as their home melts away. Another sort of animal affected by climate change is all of those who create their shells, such as hermit crabs or sea snails. Our oceans have absorbed approximately 525 billion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, with around 22 million tons being taken into the ocean per day. This causes the ocean to become more acidic as the carbon ions bond with the hydrogen ions, which SHOULD be bonding with the calcium ions. This results in shell-forming creatures not being able to use the carbonate and calcium to make their shells, as the carbonate they need has already bonded with the hydrogen ions. While it is still possible for the creatures to form shells by attempting to extract the carbonate, it’s much harder to do and causes them to use up more energy and resources, which they could have used for reproducing.
Now, plenty of people while argue that this is not a problem at all, some even flat out saying it doesn’t exist. People will exclaim “oh, but today is so cold! The Earth couldn’t possibly be heating up, it’s freezing!” But, the daily weather forecast and long-term climate patterns should not be compared, as those two are not the same. Finding weather trends for the span of a week is much easier than finding the climate trends over a year, which is determined by those weather trends. Certain people who oppose that climate change is real are oil and carbon-producing companies, who know their businesses are a major contributor to the problem. Wanting to make as much money and support as possible, they cannot admit that what they are doing is harming our Earth and continue to drill, operate factories, and much more! Another argument is that carbon dioxide is actually good for our planet. While yes, plants do take in CO2 in order to produce its own food and oxygen for other living creatures, that’s not all they need to live. There are not enough plants in the world to just permanently take in all of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, especially now at the rate we’re chopping and burning down trees! As the plants are not able to take in all of the CO2, it heats up the atmosphere alongside the sun’s rays and other greenhouse gases. This will cause more drought on land, and this does not let the plants receive the water and nutrients they need, which leads to less crops for us humans to eat, causing a global food shortage.
