From starting a car to turning on the heat to be warm, fossil fuels are constantly being burnt. Fossil fuels release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which later causes global warming. Global warming has been a long driven topic for many years now. This problem not only affects the environment but also affects humans and animals as well.
Global warming has been happening since the 1800s. With global warming, there also comes climate change. Climate change happens when there has been a shift of temperature and change in weather patterns for a long period of time.
Over one million animals have been affected by climate change and are in threat to extinction. For instance, arctic animals who are prone to living in colder climates have been passing away due to the arctic getting warmer and melting down ice caps. Farm animals have also been harmed because of forest fires and poaching. Recently, giraffes have been announced as an endangered species because they suffer from habitat loss due to increase in industries being built and hunting around their home.
“Species subjected to local climate changes of 7°C or greater across geological stages were significantly more likely to face extinction. This suggests that surpassing this climate change threshold increases the likelihood of extinction for a species, regardless of its other traits,” said Erin Saupe, Associate Professor of Palaeobiology, and Cooper Malanoski, PhD candidate of Geology.
In recent years, Chicago has seen a shift in temperature especially in the winter season. Last year, it was reported by NBC Chicago that winter temperatures were at their warmest since 1970. The 2023 winter season was ranked second for having the warmest winter season in the U.S. This year, Chicago is predicted to experience more winter storms than last year and have 25-35 snow days from December through February.
“Chicago is forecast to see 30-45 inches of snow this winter, a significant jump from the 22 inches that fell last year but in line with the city’s average of 38 inches,” said Paul Pastelok, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather.
As temperatures are getting warmer all around the world, it also comes with many health risks humans are going to face. With warmer temperatures and hotter days, there are more deaths happening around the world from heat stroke. Wildfires, air pollution, and extreme weather events have also caused humans to develop cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
“The climate crisis threatens to undo the last 50 years of progress in development, global health and poverty reduction, and to further widen existing health inequalities between and within populations,” said the World Health Organization.
To warn people of the dangerous effects climate change has been bringing, activists Gan Golan and Andrew Boyd created the ‘Climate Clock’ back in 2020. It is a timer placed in New York that ticks down to July 21, 2029 when the carbon budget runs out.
“Over each of the past 12 months, the planet has already seen temperatures that are 1.5 degrees hotter than the global average before the Industrial Revolution. Since climate scientists look at temperatures over multiple decades, it’s too soon to say that we’ve officially reached that new average temperature,” said Adele Peters, a writer at Fast Company.
To prevent harsh outcomes from occurring in the future, the United Nations have put in place ways humans can keep the environment clean and healthy. For example, reducing the amount of electricity and heat being used at home, switching to an electric vehicle to prevent air pollution, and, most importantly, speaking up about climate change can help.
“The natural environment gives us a wealth of services that are difficult to measure in dollars. Natural areas help clean our air, purify our water, produce food and medicines, reduce chemical and noise pollution, slow floodwaters, and cool our streets. We call this work ‘ecosystem services,’” said NSW Government, Environment and Heritage.
