Did you know 2016 was the warmest year on record? This phenomenon is called climate change, and it is caused by human activity. There are many ways climate change is dangerous to humanity and the environment. Climate change is real and the government should put a bigger effort to slow it.. Climate change does affect the environment immensely but is often overlooked. The government refuses to believe climate change is an actual problem. Ways the government could help are by regulating the amount of fossil fuels being burned and make a bigger effort to use cleaner sources of energy.

Some scientists say that the ocean levels have been rising for thousands of years and it has nothing to do with climate change, but think about it like this. Warm air causes seawater to expand which will take up more space in the ocean.A warmer climate will also make glaciers and ice caps melt gradually until they are all gone. This water will flow into the ocean also causing sea levels to rise. With sea levels rising coastal cities won’t exist anymore. The people who live in these cities will have to move inland. This will increase the population density inland, making it more difficult to live. Ocean levels may have been gradually rising for thousands of years , but on top of the effects of climate change, it is a huge problem. A rising ocean due to climate change is very dangerous and needs to be taken into consideration.

2016 was the warmest year on record yet, before then it was 2015 and before that was 2014. If the average global temperature continues to rise at this rate, abnormal weather events will become more common. Climate change will result in more hotter days and fewer cold days. Heat waves will become longer and more intense. Storms, floods, and droughts will be more severe as temperatures rise. Climate change isn’t the cause of every single unusual weather event ,but it is a heavily influencing the weather. Heat waves, droughts, and intense rain events have increased in frequency in the past 50 years.

Climate change will greatly affect ecosystems. Warmer temperatures have shifted the growing seasons around the world. The growing season in parts of the northern hemisphere has been two weeks longer in the second half of the 20th century, causing spring to come earlier in both hemispheres. This may sound like a good thing, but it is affecting the broader ecosystems. Migrating animals have to start seeking food sources earlier. The shift of seasons is affecting pollinators, like bees and butterflies, to be out of sync with plants and trees. This can limit the ability of pollinators and plants to reproduce, which will reduce food supply throughout the food chain. Higher temperature may exceed the tolerance of an indigenous plant or animal species, so in order to survive species have been known to migrate. Some species who can’t quickly adapt may face extinction.

Eventually, climate change will affect the Earth in many ways. How much is being changed is entirely up to mankind. Since people are causing climate change, people can manage it too. The government has the power to make a change, but they reject the facts. Our world is rapidly changing and the people have the power to determine whether it is changing negatively or positively.

Fossil Fuels

dirty dangerous

warming, heating, melting

Something needs to be done

Evil

The Planet

beautiful amazing

dying, declining, withering

It is our only home

Earth