Will we Change our Actions or Will we Die?

Anthropogenic climate change is the greatest issue facing our generation because it threatens our survival. Solving it will require a higher level of global coordination than human beings have ever had. Anthropogenic means to be caused by human activity. Anthropogenic climate change is the climate’s reaction to the increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere caused by industrialization starting in the 20th century. The lifestyle Americans are accustomed to may eventually cause the human species to become extinct. Yes, privacy within technology, racism and inequality are issues our society is currently facing, but if you step back, none of that will matter if the human species becomes extinct.

Anthropogenic climate change is the greatest challenge, not only because it is a threat to our survival, but because it requires the world coming together and making changes.

It is beyond the scope of this paper to explain climate science. The temperature of every planet is controlled by how much sunlight reaches it and the composition of its atmosphere. Human activity is changing the composition of our atmosphere. In particular, burning fossil fuels has increased the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and large-scale farming has increased the amount of methane (Wuebbles). Those two gases absorb more heat from the sun than nitrogen or any other atmospheric gases, and so, as they become a larger portion of the atmosphere, the average temperature on Earth increases.

Anthropogenic climate change is threatening our survival and life as we have known it. The global air temperature has warmed by 1.8°F over the last 115 years (Wuebbles). That is where the term “global warming” came from, but there has been a lot of confusion surrounding the term. 1.8°F is not enough for us to feel in our daily lives, but it is enough for the planet to feel. With that much warming, glaciers in the Arctic are melting at extreme levels. The water that was once contained by a glacier is now melting into the ocean making the tides rise. Since 1900, sea levels have risen by 7-8 inches (Wuebbles). So why would that be an issue? Most major cities are built on coastlines in order to trade goods with other countries through ports. As sea levels rise, all those major cities will begin to flood. For example, in Miami Beach, people were trying to drive their cars through eight inches of water to get to work. The city had to install $400 million in pump technologies to stop the city streets from flooding (Stevens). With 2.7°F of warming, sea levels are expected to rise by 10-30 inches (Dennis Normile). If we do not make changes, having sea levels rise by eight feet by 2100 is not out of the picture (Wuebbles). Can you image eight feet of water? That would flood the entire first floor of your home. In Newport Beach, California, families are having to spend millions of dollars in order to remodel and raise the foundations of their homes to prevent flooding damages. Eventually that may not work, families will be forced to abandon their homes and relocate inland due to flooding. Not only would this be extremely expensive, but it would also cause major disruption. Either, entirely new cities would need to be built, or people would need to move to other towns.

More than a quarter of our carbon dioxide emissions are absorbed by the oceans and do not enter the atmosphere (Wuebbles). However, the absorbed CO2 is causing the pH levels of the ocean to decrease slightly in a process called “ocean acidification.” This increased acidity makes it more difficult for clams, corals and plankton to form shells (Stevens). We do not think about the importance of coral reefs, but without them people will starve. As the coral dies off, fish no longer have a place to live, pushing them farther out into the ocean. Also, as plankton die, larger fish have nothing to eat. With coral and plankton dying off, fish are also consequently dying off. Fish are the primary source of protein for one billion people (Stevens). As cows produce a large amount of methane, having even more people relying on fish will be vital in reducing greenhouse gasses.

In the last year, we have seen hurricanes in Houston, fires in California and flooding in Japan, all due to anthropogenic climate change. Damage to human safety, infrastructure and agriculture will become increasingly intense and frequent globally if we do not make changes (Wuebbles). If you have not yet personally experienced extreme weather patterns, you will soon. “Since 1980, the cost of extreme events for the United States has exceeded $1.1 trillion.” (Wuebbles). If we continue emitting carbon dioxide into the air, climate change will cost taxpayers an estimated $44 trillion by 2060 (Stevens).

Without having to drive through flooded streets to try and make it to work, or having your house burned down by a wildfire, it is difficult to convince people we need to make massive changes. Our first challenge is to educate the public on the science, explaining the climate change that is currently happening. Once the general public embraces this as the greatest issue, we can vote into office leadership who can then make changes for our country.

It is not an exaggeration to say that addressing the causes of anthropogenic climate change will require the greatest combined effort in human history. We do not have a centralized government for the entire world. Each country can force their citizens to obey their laws, but there are no global laws. Countries can reach agreements on how they will interact with each other, but we acknowledge that each country is sovereign and can make its own decisions. That sovereignty is a challenge because reducing CO2 emissions imposes costs and hardships on each country, but the benefits of a healthy environment are shared globally. If every other country reduced their CO2 emissions and your country didn’t, your citizens would still reap the benefits. Similarly, the costs of climate change will not be spread evenly. Some countries will be much more impacted by sea level rise or a collapse of the marine ecosystem than others.

If our generation can meet this challenge, we will have accomplished something that humanity has never done before: to address an issue globally. However, can we prevent further damages from occurring? All we need to do is come together as a world, switch to renewable energy, and change the ways we are accustomed to living. Not too bad, right? If we do not make change “all living things we cherish, are history” (Stevens).

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