So, Climate Change is Happening, But do Enough of Us Care?

I think it’s safe to say that the term ‘climate change’ is truly a household name at this point in time. We’ve seen it on the news, on social media, in movies, and just about everywhere else. Climate change has been a part of mainstream social conversation for a while now. However, in recent years, its prevalence has increased significantly. So, why is this?

Well, in short, climate change is still happening. It’s still an ongoing problem, and it’s still a serious concern. The issue is, however, that many of us are viewing it as far-off, a problem that will only become noticeable when we’ve all passed on. Sure, we’ll eat the odd meat-free meal, or share a post about the polar bears on our Instagram stories, but are any of us really listening?

Before we question the human morality surrounding climate change, let’s look at the facts. Of course, we’re all aware that climate change is a concern, it’s a worry, it’s a thing. But what does this global event truly entail? Well, here are the basics.

1. Yes, The Ice is Melting. Yes, it’s Really Bad.

One of the most common conversations you’ll hear around climate change is the fact that the ice caps are melting. But, what does this really mean?

The first thing that’s important to appreciate when considering this issue is the sheer size of the polar ice caps. These aren’t kind of large, or even just large, these are absolutely, undoubtedly massive. Our planet has two major ice sheets, and just the Antarctic ice cap alone has a span of around fourteen million square metres.

To put this into perspective, the entirety of the United States of America spans just under four million square kilometres. China, a country that is home to almost 1.4 billion people, spans around 3.7 million square kilometres. So, at its largest, the Antarctic ice cap is three-point-five times larger than the United States, and almost four times larger than China.

Now, imagine the span of water that the United States could cover, and keep in mind that this water would also have a depth of over two thousand metres, as is standard for the northern ice sheet. Then imagine that melting. And, just to up the stakes, imagine three-point-five times that amount of water melting. Doesn’t sound great, does it?

To put it plainly, if our ice caps melt, global sea levels will rise by about seventy metres. This would be the equivalent of water rising to the top of an eight-storey building. Needless to say, numerous cities will be underwater, and millions upon millions of people will be affected.

So, what’s next? Surely it can’t get much worse than this, right? Well…

2. We’re Really Gonna Need That Rainforest.

Let’s keep on the trend of square kilometres and consider the size of the Amazon rainforest. That comes in at about 2 million square kilometres. Again, pretty huge. Now, what if we whittled that rainforest down, and down, and down, until there was almost nothing left?

Well, that might seem a little extreme, until we look at the facts. So far, deforestation has destroyed fifteen-per-cent of the Amazon rainforest, at a rate of around two-hundred-thousand acres every day. That’s six million acres every single month. So, why is this a problem for us?

The Amazon rainforest is the most biodiverse piece of land in the entire world, with over three million animal species, and over three-thousand-five-hundred tree species, living there. That’s almost thirty percent of the world’s entire list of known species. Pretty crazy, and pretty crucial.

In short, we simply cannot afford to lose such an incredibly vast number of living species. Losing the Amazon rainforest would cause global consequences, increasing the occurrence of dry spells, droughts, and flooding, considerably. There would also be a massive increase in the release of greenhouse gases, an increase of five to six times in fact, which will contribute massively to further climate change. These changes will threaten the growth of crops, the availability of water, and would decrease the variety of foods accessible to us by eighty-per-cent. So, losing the Amazon rainforest will affect all of us.

Things Are Bad, But Bad Enough for People to Care?

We’re all undeniably aware of climate change, and undeniably aware of its ongoing prevalence in our world. So, why aren’t we more worried? Why aren’t newscasters constantly covering over-farming, or deforestation, or the future that awaits us if nothing is done? Why aren’t we being told by our governments that we have to change, that we have to adapt to be more sustainable and eco-conscious?

Well, these questions have a number of very complex answers. One of the biggest factors that plays into our ignorance surrounding climate change is that it simply isn’t happening rapidly enough to frighten us. We can’t see the sea levels rising with our own eyes, we’re not waking up in scorching temperatures every day, so, it’s natural to push climate change to the bottom of the list of our concerns.

Another element playing into this is the fact that many of us aren’t at the crisis areas. We’re not sitting in the Amazon rainforest, watching it get destroyed daily, we’re not talking to farmers that are struggling with harvests due to the changing climate, so, again, is it important enough? It’s natural for human beings to disregard issues that don’t affect them directly, and intensely, right there and then. We all have enough issues of our own to worry about the planet, right?

To an extent, that’s a fair response. So many of us are up to our eyes in problems, and constant worries, that our brains often don’t have the space for anything else. However, there is a bottom line here, and that’s this: this planet is the only one we have, and we simply cannot afford to destroy it. And, we really are destroying it.

So, let’s keep it simple here. We don’t need to sell our houses, move to the middle of nowhere, and live off the land. However, we do need to make some changes. Here are some links to a couple of great articles that can help you become more eco-conscious and sustainable quickly and easily.

8 EASY WAYS TO SWITCH TO AN ECO-FRIENDLY LIFESTYLE: https://vocal.media/lifehack/8-easy-ways-to-switch-to-an-eco-friendly-lifestyle

Self-Sustainable Mind, Self-Sustainable Life: https://vocal.media/lifehack/self-sustainable-mind-self-sustainable-life

REUSE not Recycle: https://vocal.media/earth/reuse-not-recycle

If we want to prevent the destruction of our planet, it has to be a group effort. We have to work together, and all ensure that each of us, consistently, are doing our bit. We can do this, and there's no better time to start than right now.