It is important to take action on climate change now. Human activities (such as burning fossil fuels)  are a huge contributing factor to increased greenhouse gases on Earth. We refused to foresee the warning signs for long enough. We need to try to reverse our actions before it is too late. If we do not change now our world could be different in thirty years and our children will have to face challenges due to climate change everyday of their lives.

Secretary of the United States Framework Convention on Climate Change, Cristiana Figueres and founding partner of Global Optimism, Tom Rivett-Carnac wrote an article on climate change. Titled “How the World Will Look Like in 2050 If We Don’t Cut Carbon Emissions in Half.” According to the article the air will be hot, heavy and tough to breathe because the ever rising global temperature. It also states that the oceans will become more acidic and continue rising, forcing people out of their homes, there will be almost no forests left. Scorching heat waves will become common causing prolonged drought, and there will be many catastrophic events. Natural disasters will become serious and happen more often, and the wildlife habitat will continue to disappear. If we do not act soon we will run out of time to stop this climate crisis before the harm is irreversible. Our world will not be how we know it today.

We should not have to worry about the future of our children and grandchildren in this world but because of climate change, the future could be different from how we live now. It is easy to overlook climate change now because it has not had an impact on all of us in our day to day lives right now. If we do not change now, we will have to face the consequences soon. Agnes Callamard, the International Secretary General of the Amnesty website stated that “It’s easy to take our planet for granted until we the human cost of its degradation: hunger, displacement, unemployment, illness and deaths.” Although it is obvious that climate change does exist, there are some people who believe that the increase of global temperature is just due to the planet warming on in a natural way.

Stiftung Mercator and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research state that we are currently in a climate emergency due to our increase in carbon emissions. Political leaders must act immediately. Greenhouse gas emissions cause global temperature to rise at a dangerous rate. The goal is to prevent the temperature from increasing by 1.5 C, which will help prevent global warming. Right now we have a minimum of seven years to act before the global temperature increases, which will end up causing even more climate issues in our future.

The government will not commit themselves to solve this issue that will eventually cause irreparable destruction on Earth. The President of France, Francois Hollande stated “We have a single mission: to protect and hand on the planet to the next generation.” There are people who do not understand that climate refers to long periods of time and that weather changes day to day so they think that just because the weather is cold, it must mean climate change is not real.

According to the article on the Amnesty website founded by British lawyer, Peter Benenson, climate change is at fault partly due to the government’s failure to act. In order for change to happen, the states need to take all the necessary steps to help reverse climate change. Starting with having fossil fuel companies minimize greenhouse emissions. We should have the right to breathe clean unpolluted air and the time to act is now.

Climate change is not new, it began making headlines back in the 1980’s and we have spent enough time ignoring the issue. Katharine Hayhoe a climate scientist stated “We are humans who want the same thing every other human wants — a safe place to live on this planet we call home. So while our work must continue to be unbiased and objective, increasingly we are raising our voices, adding to the clear message that climate change is real and humans are responsible, the impacts are serious and we must act now.” Some people do not believe climate change is real, even when the devastating effects are obvious and are an emergency.

We still have time to save the Earth from the devastating effects of climate change. We must immediately stop burning fossil fuels and shift our energy systems to renewable resources (such as wind and solar). Part of the decision to prevent climate change is up to companies and the government but we can still make a difference in our everyday life. We can choose to power our homes with renewable energy, reduce water waste by taking shorter showers, bike or walk places instead of driving a car, reduce, reuse and recycle, start composting, eat sustainable foods and use reusable water bottles.

Greta Thunberg a Swedish environmental activist who is known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action for climate change mitigation stated “I want you to act as if our house is on fire because it is.” Some people think that there is no way we could make a difference so they do not even bother to try, but that is the reason that nothing in our world progresses. We must all work together to have a better future. On Aug 9, 2021 the IPCC issued a code red for humanity which means the earth is in the danger zone. Climate change will affect every part of the world in a different way. We could start to have more hot days and less cold days and even more devastating effects to come. We need to remember that it is not too late but to make a difference we all must come together and act immediately.