Our Earth, our planet, our home, our survival, our future, in our hands

Effects so far

Glaciers and Snowfall

Above is the Grinnell glacier over time. If you watch, you can see how much it has decreased in just a few decades. There is a huge amount of destruction on the glacier, and unfortunately it is being mirrored in countless glaciers across the world. As the world gets warmer, more and more snow and ice melts off the glacier - snow and ice it doesn't get back over the winter. As time passes, the glaciers lose more, until finally there is nothing left. Snowfall has also been and will continue to be decreasing on Earth. The snow that does fall is melting earlier, which is forcing earlier migrations for birds. This can lead to the endangerment of many of these species because chicks who aren't ready are trying to migrate. These are easy targets for predators.

Oceans

The oceans have been hit very hard, and have suffered many negative effects, the first of which is oil poisoning. Oil spills form in the sea, contaminating and killing thousands of fish, coral, and seabirds. Sunscreen from swimmers can kill coral reefs and all the unique species that rely on the reefs to survive. Ocean acidity is increasing by 30%. Plastics and microplastics in the ocean are often swallowed by sea creatures, which can kill them. That makes plastics move up the food chain, which can make animals who stayed clear of the contaminated patches die of the same cause. The oceans are warming by 0.6 degrees Fahrenheit each year, which is disrupting the ecosystem. The ocean water level has risen double its usual amount in the past few years, causing more flooding in coastal regions.

Wildfires

Many readers may have heard about the wildfires in California and Colorado last fall. These were only the beginning. Wildfires are the effect (and a cause) of a vicious cycle started by humans: Carbon is emitted, the Earth gets warmer and drier, there are more wildfires, which release more carbon. Fires can be extremely hard to contain, especially in dry, hot places with winds that change every few minutes. The habitats of humans and animals alike can be destroyed by the fires, and they will become more common and more severe as time goes on. Ash in the air can cause breathing disorders and can even cause people living for extended periods of time in the affected zone to die younger.

Extreme Weather and Global Temperature

Even the weather has been affected by climate change. As the world is warming there has been an increase in extreme weather such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. As time goes on, these will become even more common, as well as rainstorms, thunderstorms, and things like that. We will see a decrease in snowfall. The global temperature has already gone up, and it will continue going up unless we do something fast. It's gone up almost 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit since the late 19th century. Although this might not seem like much, small changes in the ecosystem can have monumental effects. If the temperature keeps going up, the world will get drier, and there will be more fires and dust storms, which will worsen as time goes on until the ecosystems are uninhabitable deserts.

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