Climate change: when the world is literally burning alive. Hyperbole aside, climate change is an observable fact and it is happening. Whether you ‘believe in global warming’ or not, it is undeniably affecting our world and, by extension, our human lives on said world. Storms are getting stronger, species are going extinct, and droughts are sweeping across the globe.
But what YOU might have noticed in particular is how stupid hot this past summer was. The average surface temperature was roughly 62.4 degrees fahrenheit (16.9 degrees celsius), making it about 2 degrees fahrenheit hotter than the average recorded in the 20th century. All this makes summer 2024 the hottest earth has ever been with record temperatures being set from the Americas to Asia.
You might also have noticed that eerie feeling of deja vu creeping into your head, and not without reason. Why? Because 2023 was ALSO the hottest summer on record, so the earth has broken its previous heat records twice in the past two years. Lovely.
Why does this matter though? So what if the earth is getting a little extra toasty and turning the sky orange from Canadian wildfires?
Well, climate change doesn’t just heat up your summer trip to Italy, it also destroys lives. During the process of writing this, the southeast US was hit by Hurricane Helene. It was predicted to damage power lines, homes, and general infrastructure in states like Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. It has done that and taken the lives of over 160 people.
Especially in the Carolinas, the displacement has been massive. Hundreds have lost shelter, millions have been left without power, and whole counties have been lacking drinkable and usable water (which is, go figure, another thing climate change limits access to).
So why, still, is progress so slow? It can be a number of factors, including the roughly 14% of Americans who still don’t believe it’s happening, but it could also be that, at least in America, we just don’t care enough. I’m not talking about someone believing that climate change is the sign of the times or whatever, but that it just isn’t a top issue for Americans.
Despite everything happening, the top issue among American adults remains to be the economy. While there is certainly a gap between how much of a priority global warming is between Democrats and Republicans, overall it remains a secondary issue for voters. But to counterpoint, the economy will be a lot worse if cities are underwater due to storms and floods and droughts deprive millions of accessible food; just saying.
We, as a country, need to shift our mindset around climate change. One of the most powerful nations has a sizable chunk of people stalling progress on a global issue. We can’t have that. In a fight for the safety and livability of our world we have to put aside our differences and make a change.
I implore those who can to vote and donate. There are people out there giving it their all to preserve our way of life on this planet, the least we can do is support them or join them. Even just a little can make a difference in this fight. So please, do what you can.