Is there really a “future”?
The reality of climate change.
The “future”- an idea of a time that every human has at one point wished could come sooner. But what if the “future”, a time that we all dreamed of, were to never exist. What if all the fantasies that we dreamed of as kids about having money, cars, men/women and much more was all to never occur. The idea of having kids 20 years from now, raising them, teaching them and introducing them to our world sounds quite luxurious, but what if there is no world for our children to enjoy and experience? What kind of horrifying thing can potentially cause this? How can we prevent it? How can we make sure that our “future” is secure?
After reading that first paragraph, I bet you were envisioning that there was going to be another outbreak of the Bubonic Plague or Ebola and that everyone was going to die and that’s why our so-called future was in jeopardy. Well, how about I introduce something worse. Something that will cause our oceans to evaporate, destroy our biodiversity, and most of all; eradicate our home, Earth. That something happens to be global warming.
Now that it’s established that global warming has the ability to ruin your dreams of raising a family or buying a Lamborghini Aventador, we then need to examine the science behind it. First, global warming is the general idea that the Earth is trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which results in the increase of atmospheric temperature. “But I’m sure I can deal with 100°F weather all year round, I’m from Florida! What’s the big deal?”. It isn’t so simple. Even the slightest of increases can cause irreversible damage to our environments and ecosystems. The modification of Earth’s temperature can cause plants to deteriorate, animals will be pushed into extinction, and eventually humans will cease to be. Scientists have calculated that we are currently losing species at 1,000 to 10,000 times the background extinction rate, with literally dozens going extinct every day. Our world revolves around an ongoing cycle, a cycle that has been in place since the creation of the Earth and mankind. If we were to delete or simply modify a vital part of that ongoing cycle, the consequences are brutal. Natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornadoes will occur more frequently and at more intensified states, animals will begin to battle each other for the limited ecological resources, and humans will begin to realize that it might just be too late.
What is a future with no animals to play with, no flowers to give to your loved ones, no food to eat? Sounds more like Guantanamo Bay than our sweet ole’ Earth. This is why this issue is important to me; because I want generations to come to enjoy Earth the way I, we, had the opportunity to enjoy it. We came into this Earth with beautiful flowers, biodiversity and much more. Isn’t it only fair to pass it on as such to our upcoming generations? How can we borrow something and then completely destroy it and just give it back in that state? 99 percent of currently threatened species are at risk from human activities, primarily those driving habitat loss, introduction of exotic species, and global warming. That means that plants and animals we had an opportunity to appreciate and admire during our lifetime will be unknown to our future generations, and it’s because of our actions. That’s why I take importance in this issue: that’s why we need to take importance in this issue. Although I may have exaggerated the timeline of all these sickening things occurring, I have acutely understated the severity of the issue. Global warming is real, the extinction of our plants and animals is real, and it’s happening now.
So, how can we prevent this from happening? Begin with simply educating those you know on the dangers of global warming. Co-workers, classmates, colleagues, friends, family, etc. Nobody is exempt. If we can bring awareness to the issue and begin acting towards it, who knows, maybe there will be a future after all.
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