It’s surprising that in the 21st century, in 2020, with all the advanced technology and monitoring systems made free and available on the internet, with all the vetted studies and physical evidence we see and feel in our surroundings, people still believe that climate change is a hoax. [1]
There’s this popular belief that global warming is merely an organized system of conspiracy theories formed by manipulated data and utilized by governments for sinister agendas. There’s no doubt that in some parts of the world, climate change could be politicized to cover up embezzlements, but this doesn’t make it any less REAL.
We don’t have a second planet to move to by the time we are done destroying this one. Climate change is real, it’s progressing at an exponentially alarming rate, and we are already feeling the effects. Also called global warming, the concept basically refers to the rise in average surface temperatures in the earth with long-term effects and repercussions.
According to the U.S. Global Change Research Program, “the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased more than 20% in less than 40 years, owing largely to human activities, and representing well over 50% of the total increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide since the onset of the industrial revolution (1750).” [2]
The most dramatic and obvious evidence of intense global warming is the terrifying disappearance or rapid melting of mountain glaciers all around the world. This has resulted in uncontrollable flooding and tsunamis in many places. A lot of the earth’s ice has disappeared since the ice age and further industrialization would only increase the intensity of the crackdown.
Other effects that can be felt and observed in our immediate environments include increased heat (longer summers, shorter winters, more allergenic springs), more devastating wildfires, declining water supplies, reduced agricultural yield, rapid loss of wildlife, increased extinction of vulnerable species, flooding and erosion in coastal areas, drought, and even insect outbreaks.
If you need some visual aids, these 14 photos will convince you to take the measures and policies a lot more seriously.
The Pedersen Glacier in Alaska 100 years ago versus now.
Flooding rates around the world have almost doubled in the past 30 years and the worst is yet to come.
Global warming has resulted in an 89% decrease in new coral formations at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
The Aculeo Lake in Chile – six years ago versus now.
Lake Urmia in Iran has turned red and is on the verge of drying up completely. The increased temperatures resulted in a higher salt concentration, making the lake the perfect breeding ground for Dunaliella algae, which can turn water bodies blood-red.
The flooding of the Mississippi River resulted in this.
This glacier melted so relentlessly that it has become a sea.
This is the misery that has become of the formerly glorious Victoria Falls.
Effects of devastating wildfires. Satellites imagery shows that in the past 16 years, the earth has lost an average of 340 million hectares of land every year. Billions of animals have been lost in the fires and oxygen reserves are dwindling at a worrisome rate.
What happened to Iceland’s Okjokull glacier within one year?
Countless families were rendered homeless as the Ganges River in Allahabad, India, continues to break its own flooding records.
This is what wildfires have progressively done to the Amazon Forest.
There’s barely anything left of the Grinnell glacier in Montana.
This is what occasionally happens to the Theewaterskloof Dam in South Africa.
Photo Credits: Brightside
References
- “Climate Change: How Do We Know?” NASA. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
- “Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing.” Global Change. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
- ” How You Can Stop Global Warming.” NRDC. Melissa Denchak. Retrieved November 11, 2020.