Humanity is at a crucial junction where we can help to reverse our impact on climate change, but unfortunately we will most likely fail to meet that moment.
According to an April 4, 2017 article by Columbia University, climate changes naturally occur because of alterations in the Earth’s energy balance, which describes how incoming energy from the sun is used and returned back to space. Earth’s climate has changed numerous times over the past 650,000 years, moving in and out of ice ages and warm periods.
However, because of human activity such as deforestation, fossil fuels and overpopulation, which are all in the interests of big corporations, we have changed the natural process of climate change, leading to extreme weather events.
In 1972, the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm, Sweden. During that conference, the United Nations Environment Programme was established to coordinate the UN’s environmental activities and assist developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices, according to a Sept. 20, 2013 BBC News article.
That conference was 48 years ago.
In recent years, some countries have tried to come together and battle climate change, but this hasn’t worked out because some leaders care more about their economies than the environment.
According to a Dec. 12, 2015 article by the National Resources Defense Council, a non-profit international environmental advocacy group, 195 countries came together to fight climate change and its impacts.
This was known as the Paris Climate Agreement.
Its aim is to limit global temperature rise by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, provide a framework for transparency, accountability and the achievement of more ambitious goals. Countries that sign the agreement agree to try to keep global temperatures below two degrees Celsius this century, mobilize support for climate change mitigation and adaptation in developing nations.
This was a promising start to see some positive change in saving the environment. However, not all countries wanted to participate in the Paris Climate Agreement.
Iran, Iraq and Libya have all opted out of signing the Paris Climate Agreement because oil has been an important factor for their economic security. All three countries make money off their oil reserves. Turkey, Eritrea, South Sudan and Yemen have also opted out of the agreement, according to Climate Home News.
With three big oil exporting nations opting out of the world’s climate agreement, it’s safe to say they don’t care about the environment as much as they care about the income the oil is giving them.
It’s hard to hope that humans will come together when in the U.S., President Donald Trump said he denies climate change played a role in the California wildfires, according to a Monday briefing with Gov. Gavin Newsom and climate change scientists.
According to a Nov. 26, 2018 BBC News article, President Trump said to a reporter when asked about climate change, “I don’t believe it.” He went on to say that, “Right now we’re at the cleanest we’ve ever been, and that’s very important to me.”
However, the Trump administration has made deep cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which was established in 1970 to maintain and enforce environmental laws.
This will be the third year in a row that the EPA has seen cuts because of the Trump administration. In 2018, the Trump administration cut the EPA’s budget by 23%, then by 31% in 2019 and in 2020 he cut the budget by 26%, according to a Feb. 10 article from The Hill.
With these budget cuts, the EPA said to expect seeing more lead, toxic chemicals and contaminated water affecting American lives. This will result in more asthma attacks, more toxic pollutants in our communities and jeopardize the health and safety of Americans, according to the Environmental Defense Fund website.
Also, fires have been blazing acrossCalifornia, Oregon and Washington. Bigger and more frequent hurricanes have been hitting the east, such as the Category 4 Hurricane Laura in 2020 which hit Louisiana in late August.
Record-breaking temperatures occurred around the U.S., such as California’s Death Valley reaching a scalding 130 degrees Fahrenheit.
But the president still doesn’t think that climate change is a contributing factor.
Costanza Rampini, an environmental studies professor at SJSU, said that when the world is at its breaking point, humans will come together and find a solution to help.
“The earth’s temperature will continue to warm if we don’t do anything,” Rampini said.
She also said that there’s still time to make changes such as adapting our crops, planting different crops and changing our irrigation practices to help deal with increases in temperature by a couple of degrees.
This may be true, but if we continue to ignore science and not work together to battle climate change, then climate change is just going to keep getting worse until it can’t be fixed.
