Chris LeeWhy is climate change such a serious issue? We need to fight climate change to prevent further damage to our environment and to maintain our way of life as much as we can. The effects of climate change range from relatively minor to outright disastrous, and we might be seeing some of them play out now.
It can be hard to really understand just how much climate change can impact us and the Earth. After all, the effects are gradual, and we’re not quite at the point of disaster just yet. Depending on where you live, you might not be feeling any particular effects at all. Melting glaciers and record heatwaves? Those things are happening somewhere else.
But that doesn’t mean climate change isn’t a serious issue. Just as the effects of bad diet and health choices on an individual can build up slowly before causing more serious issues, the effects of global warming will only worsen over time, even if it doesn’t seem that way.
Eating unhealthy and greasy food every day doesn’t “feel” like it might cause major health problems—until it suddenly does. It’s the same with CO2 emissions and other unsustainable practices. We’re generally not great at understanding the effect of something unless it’s immediate or easily noticeable.
As for the climate change effects we’re experiencing now, we are at the point where we may be experiencing noticeable chest pains and discomfort before even more serious heart issues occur. It might not necessarily lead to a heart attack, but it’s still a sign that something is wrong and you need to make very different life choices.
For example, we’re already seeing severe heat waves in certain parts of the world. This summer Europe experienced record temperatures that led to 1,500 deaths in France alone. According to an analysis from the World Weather Attribution network, such heatwaves would be very unlikely without global warming.
That’s not even including other notable examples, such as melting ice caps and stronger storms. And the worst-case scenarios could be devastating. Coastal flooding, civil unrest, and climate migration are real outcomes.
We can’t wait until things get worse and leave it to our children and their children to deal with or suffer from. The choices we make now can either have a lasting positive impact or lead to irreversible damage.
From the small choices we make as individuals (using sustainable transportation, reducing consumption), to the larger ones we make as a society (CO2 emission regulations and changing to renewable energy), everything helps.
