Think of the movie “The Exorcist”, one of the scariest movies in the film industry. Think of something twice as scary. Now, even triple it. This movie will not come even a fraction close to how frightening the effects of climate change are.
So far 2014 has been the hottest year recorded and the year 2015 is on track to claim this title. Rising seas, the extinction of species, stronger hurricanes, and severe heat waves are only a few effects of climate change on the Earth.
Recently, floods have hit Northern England and record rainfalls have been recorded. Closer to home, the Midwest has experienced two record breaking floods in the past 15 years.
As the Earth continues to warm from the excess carbon dioxide emissions, more major disturbances such as hurricanes or floods will occur.
Furthermore, as the ice caps continue to shrink the lands of those who live close to sea level are threatened. The native lands of a number of the Inuit people are dramatically decreasing as sea levels rise and they see their native lands disappear underwater.
More and more land disappears as the ice caps shrink and add to the rising seas. From 1880 to 2012, the Earth has warmed 1.53 degrees Fahrenheit. That may not seem dramatic, but if this trend continues, we will see dramatic changes in our lifestyles..
In the past week, global leaders gathered at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conferences in Paris, France. Leaders such as Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin met to tackle climate change issues and combat the spiraling concern of global warming.
There is still time to act, but if society continues to ignore the looming issue then by the year 2050 millions of people will be forced to move inland.
Barack Obama said at the climate change conference, “For I believe, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that there is such a thing as being too late. And when it comes to climate change, that hour is almost upon us.
But if we act here, if we act now, if we place our own short-term interests behind the air that our young people will breathe, and the food that they will eat, and the water that they will drink, and the hopes and dreams that sustain their lives, then we won’t be too late for them.”