Alexandra Cavazos
Climate Change has been a controversial topic of discussion, since it brings up the topic of Global warming. According to NASA, Climate Change is the change in the usual weather found in an area or the change of the Earth’s usual temperature. The change in climate is extremely important because it can take hundreds to millions of years to change.
Is Climate Change even that important?
Well yes, the Earth’s Climate is always changing. However, in the past 100 years the Earth’s temperature has raised about 1 degree Fahrenheit. The raise in Earth's overall temperature has greatly affected the Arctic Ice Caps, causing them to melt quicker. The thinning of the ice causes the sea level to rise and the loss of important habitats for local organisms. The rising sea level is not just due to the melting ice caps-- the increase in temperature has been causing small changes to the ocean mass being reflected in the ocean’s bottom pressure.
But how can we prove that Climate Change is occurring?
If the rising temperature is not enough for you, let talk about the Polar vortex. According to the National Weather Service a “polar vortex is a large area of low pressure and cold air surrounding both of the Earth’s poles.” In this sense, a vortex is an area of a counter-clockwise stream of air that stays near the poles. However, lately the northern polar vortex has been expanding. There is one state in the United States specifically that usually tends to get engulfed into the polar vortex cold surges: Chicago.
So doesn't colder temperatures support the fact that there is no such thing as Climate Change or Global Warming?
No, not at all. In fact, the increasing colder temperature supports everything we know about climate change. Climate change models predict that as the arctic temperatures increase, the temperature in the arctic and mid-latitude regions will have less of a difference. If you didn’t know, recently Chicago had temperatures that felt like they dropped to -48 degrees-- temperatures that are more commonly seen in the arctic area.
Most of the controversy surrounding climate change has to do with if global warming exists in the first place. Many people believe that it doesn't, despite current evidence that supports the existence of climate change. Many people feel as though the evidence used for proving global warming is stressed or hyperbolized.
There is, of course, a political divide between parties about the topic of climate change, causing a greater divide in political ideology. Liberals tend to believe in climate change more and are more supportive on taking action with policies and scientific studies-- take Ocasio-Cortez and Markey’s “Green New Deal,” for instance. Conservatives tend to not believe in climate change or support policies and scientific studies associated with this topic; use Trump’s degrading of the Green New Deal’s plan to reduce the methane gas emissions by the livestock as an excuse to reduce America’s consumption of beef altogether. These fissures within the nation’s ideology is causing a more tense political environment, as well as a greater divide between political alignments.
However, as more and more research goes into climate change, more people are led to believe that the evidence is not exaggerated.The effect of global warming that were thought to be hyperbolized are not, and the effects global warming has on the planet are just intensifying while people continuing to deny apparent facts.
Comments