IS CLIMATE CHANGE REALLY ‘A THING’?

What is climate change, and why should you care about it?

We’ve all seen the stories on how bad the weather has been lately in places like Detroit, Minneapolis and Chicago. People are literally freezing to death; according to The Weather Channel, at least 17 people died from the recent “polar vortex” blast of cold air in the Midwest states.

What is the cause? As hard as some may find it to believe, one true cause of the dangerously low temperatures can be said to be climate change – defined as a major change in weather patterns that lasts for an extended period of time.

Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist and the director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University, explained to NPR that as the planet gets warmer, our air holds more water vapor, meaning there’s more water vapor in the atmosphere causing rain and even snow, depending on temperatures.

So, while temperatures are increasing, the levels of rain and snow can increase, too. This is where a lot of people might get confused because many think climate change is only when temperatures are increasing.

Climate change is playing a huge role in every corner of the world. While places in the American Midwest are getting colder, wildfires are bursting in Australia, and the Arctic is slowly melting. According to the UK Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee, the Arctic Ocean is warming at a rapid rate. High temperatures are causing the ocean’s ice (polar cap) to melt, and scientists predict that at the rate temperatures are increasing, the Arctic could be ice-free by the summer of 2050.

All of these changes have caused extreme record-breaking events. Hayhoe says that in 2017, over 10,000 cold-temperature records were broken inside the United States and over 30,000 hot-temperature records were set. The World Meteorological Organization says that the 20 warmest years in recorded human history have been in the past 22 years, with 2015-2018 making up the top four years.

If temperatures continue to increase every year, the world is on the road to see ocean temperatures and sea levels rise, as a result. These changes can cause difficulty in growing food and threaten lives when streets and cities begin to flood.

As the planet gets warmer, our chances for a better and safer life decrease. Climate plays a big role in how everyone of us lives our daily life. Climate change IS a thing, it’s happening, and we need to do something about it.

What can we do to help?

Everyone can make a difference without having to spend much money or time. In 1993, Portland was the first U.S. city to create a local action plan for cutting carbon emissions (essentially, air pollution). Its Climate Action Plan (CAP) is a strategy to put Portland on a path to achieve a 40 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, and an 80 percent reduction by 2050, compared to 1990 emission levels.

The Portland Climate Action Plan also provides a list of how a person can help the environment. One of the major recommendations is to switch to ENERGY STAR products – home appliances and products (dishwashers, freezers, televisions) that use significantly less electricity than older models. The energystar.gov website provides a more detailed way on how and where to find these products. Consider “green” power equipment for your home, as well.

A lot of people are trying to stay warm during winter, of course, which means countless thousands of home heaters are being used at the same time. Portland’s CAP reminds residents to heat and cool smartly: Make sure that air filters on home furnaces are being changed and that the equipment is maintained annually.

Also: reduce, reuse, recycle. If you don’t know what this is, please leave Portland. The easiest way to help with recycling is to pay attention to the labels on waste containers.

Use water efficiently. You can buy toilets that use less water, and not let water run needlessly when doing dishes, shaving, brushing your teeth, and watering plants.

Spread the word: It’s 2019, we can easily share anything nowadays. Why not share something that is truly important? It only takes a couple of seconds to press the “share” button. If you don’t want to share on social media, tell a friend, and tell that friend to tell another one. Without sounding cheesy, the future is truly in our hands and we have the means to help the environment and maybe even put a stop to climate change.