Extreme environmental changes are rising, not just locally but globally. Due to atmospheric pollution the planet is reacting rapidly. One of the coldest places on earth, Antarctica, is facing the warmest episode of its existence. Chemical pollution, waste, and other incentives are not being handled properly. Following, we will point out the issues and some solutions to these problems.

In 1985, the ozone hole was first announced and shortly after confirmed by NASA. The expansion of such was found above Antarctica, this was caused by man-made chemicals and where science take its stand. Many of the gasses that are produced in industrial cities have taken a big part on exhausting the environment. Science says, these issues are unlikely to be taken into account, “In coastal regions, summer air temperatures are already close to freezing, and warming will have far greater biological relevance, leading to increased melt and ice-free area especially around the Antarctic Peninsula” (Antarctic Environmental Change and Biological Response).

For example, in the United States, Norfolk; Baltimore; Charleston, South Carolina; and Miami, among others — “have suffered “sunny day” flooding from seas rising far faster than the global average. One study published last year shows that from 2011 to 2015, sea level rose up to 5 inches”. The coastal sea level rising come from slow Gulf streams from Antartica. In New York, the sea level is rising more rapidly than some coastal areas because as the ocean water is rising, the land is sinking. “In places like New York City, solutions can be complex because of the city’s unique location, vast network of underground railroads, and nearby cities such as Jersey City and Hoboken, which can be affected by mitigation projects in New York”.

In contrast to other continental parts, there hasn’t been much of a climate change. For example, in some parts of the Antarctic Peninsula, “annual mean air temperatures rose by 3°C or more between 1950 and 2000. Sea temperatures in the Bellingshausen Sea to the west of the Peninsula increased by 1°C over the same period”( Link above). By the 20th century the target to control these changes had exceed by almost 4%. Ice is still receding causing sea levels to rise.

But not only melting ice or atmospheric holes are the biggest issues, precipitation also takes part, as one may cause the other. “Formal detection and attribution studies for the period 1951 to 2010 find that the observed global mean surface temperature warming lies in the middle of the range of likely human contributions to warming over that same period.” From Puerto Rico to Venice to Indonesia, we can see how storms and floods are causing serious damage. For example, Venice, “ In 1960, with the excavation of the Canale dei Petroli, a channel that was dredged to allow oil tankers to reach Porto Marghera, a deep-water port on the mainland near Venice. The shipping channels changed the tidal dynamics of the lagoon, allowing storm surges from the Adriatic to penetrate deeper and faster into the city. They also hastened erosion of the lagoon, which has widened the inlet into the sea, further increasing the risk of tidal surges.” These are some examples of the lack of effort and right engineering has led to the flood of this beautiful city.

So let’s move on to the opposite side of the coast, the West coast. California’s fires have been spurring back to back in the last decade, but what really causes these wildfires? Most of California’s fires happen during autumn, dry season and droughts ( natural causes) or man-made, “three conditions must be present for a wildfire to burn: fuel, oxygen, and a heat source. Firefighters call these three elements the fire triangle”:

• Fuel is any flammable material surrounding a fire, including trees, grasses, brush, even homes. The greater an area's fuel load, the more intense the fire is likely to be. The most wildfire-prone state is California, which lost 1,823,153 acres of land to 8,054 wildfires in 2018.
• Air supplies the oxygen a fire needs to burn. California wildfires are often made worse by the hot, dry Santa Ana winds, which can carry a spark for miles.
• Heat sources help spark the wildfire and bring fuel to temperatures hot enough to ignite. Lightning, burning campfires or cigarettes, and even the sun can all provide sufficient heat to spark a wildfire.

“Violent infernos are most common in the U.S. West, where heat, drought, and frequent thunderstorms create ripe conditions. Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, and California experienced some of the worst conflagration. Wildfires also occur around the world and in most of the 50 states.”

We can say that the entire ecosystem is being affected in greater amounts each year and if we don’t act fast, we will collapse faster than we can come up with action. There are many ways to improve the way we handle the means of production.

There are many ways to improve the way we handle our means of production. For instance, political-economic institutions control most of the environmental decisions of human activity towards the ecosystem. Second, technological changes, the exploitation of natural resources which alters the resources. Third , whatever goes into production and consumption must come out, either as useful goods or residual waste.

So how can we reduce the mentioned above? well should create more local and governmental institutions that regulate the use of toxic chemicals, reduce the human impulse of material needs and create new methods for recycling materials. Because the bottom line is that we should all take a further step into caring about the environment. it’s our home, which means is the one that provides everything we have. We have to think of the upcoming generations. Much of our resources are depleting, animals are in extinction and our ecosystem disappearing. The same way we care for our material things we should take care of the one planet that provides life to all living things on this galaxy.