Why is Climate Change Bad?

Review from Earth: Climate change describes a change in the average weather in a place over a long time period. This change is caused by an invisible layer of carbon dioxide (also known as CO2) building up in our atmosphere, high above the clouds. CO2 is made when anything is being burned. For example, factories, cars, and other machines burn gas, coal, and wood to create the energy that makes them work. But as we know, burning things makes CO2, which is bad for the environment. Not only does it pollute the air, but when billions of machines create CO2 at the same time, it builds up in the atmosphere, trapping in heat from the sun, and not allowing it to escape. This leads to a tiny increase in temperature over time, known as global warming.

Okay, we learned that global warming has been heating the earth by about 0.11 degrees Fahrenheit every decade. So what? It’s not like we can even feel that difference, right?

Wrong. We might not be able to feel the temperature shift, but the extra heat also changes our overall ecosystem and climate, which is why climate change includes more than just global warming. There are so many effects, from wildfires to a rising ocean to hunger from lack of food (also known as famine). Let’s dive in.

Wildfires: The hot and dry environment makes perfect conditions for a fire. In fact, I’m writing this right after the Palisades fires forced my family to evacuate. The fire burned 23,448 acres. That’s 5211 baseball fields worth.
A photo of the Palisades fire I found online.
Sand storms: Because of the heat, most of the water in the sand evaporates. The desert becomes so dry that wind can easily blow billions of tons of sand across continents. This sand makes it difficult to see and breathe in daily life.
a photo of a sandstorm in Arizona
Increased rainfall: when the water evaporates because of the heat, it goes into the air. When the air travels somewhere slightly cooler, it un-evaporated (or condenses into water again), turning into rain. Too much rain leads to floods and mudslides.
Melting icebergs: Since the whole world gets just a tiny bit hotter, giant icebergs in the South Pole melt. They melt into water, which goes into the ocean. So many icebergs melt that the sea gets bigger or rises.
A random picture of an iceberg I found on the internet
More floods are caused by melting icebergs: Since there’s more water in the ocean, islands, and places by the sea are more susceptible to floods.

Ocean Acidification: Believe it or not, the ocean it absorbs most carbon dioxide before reaching the atmosphere. However, this extra CO2 causes a chemical reaction in the ocean, which causes the water to become a little bit more acidic. The acid dissolves something called calcium carbonate. Mollusks (sea creatures with shells) use calcium carbonate to build their shells. Without calcium carbonate, their shells are weakened.

The acidic water partially dissolves the shell of this sea snail, making it harder for it to swim.

Famine: Food is becoming more scarce in some parts of the world. Too much or too little water means it’s hard to grow crops. The change in the amount of water leads to a chain reaction (a series of events that cause one another). The wrong amount of water leads to crops dying. That means grass won't grow, so the cows won't be able to eat as much, which means less milk and meat.

Yes, it’s bad. And the hard truth is that it’s caused by us, humans. But while we can’t fix everything, we can stop climate change from progressing. Since climate change and global warming comes from the carbon dioxide we emit from cars and factories, driving less and buying less from big factories can make a difference. It’s still possible to stop it now, but it’s going to take decades of hard work and billions of people in order to transform our world.. I really believe that we can do it, that you can do it. Let’s be the change.