What is climate change?
You have probably heard about climate change before, but do you truly know what is is and why it is happening?


The Earth’s climate is its weather conditions over a long period of time, which have recently been rapidly increasing, especially due to mankind. The Earth’s is regulated due to the greenhouse effect. When the sun releases sunlight, it enters the Earth’s atmosphere and it is absorbed by the Earth’s surface. It is then reflected back into space as heat. However, with the use of greenhouse gases, the Earth traps some of it. These type of gases are normally a positive thing, as without them, the Earth would be frozen. However, over the years, with the increase of human industry and the abnormal amounts of fossil fuels being burned, the amount of greenhouse gases has increased, trapping more and more heat, resulting in a warmer Earth. Due to such, greenhouse gases are now having a negative effects.
The climate on Earth first started to warm during the Industrial Revolution in the 1800’s, due to the emission of many greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by factories. The number of factories has continued to increase since then, and with that, so has the Earth’s temperature. Another major cause of climate change is deforestation. In the last years, millions of acres across the Earth have been burned down. Forests take in carbon dioxide, a type of greenhouse gas, during the process of photosynthesis. Burning forests down prevents them from being able to do so and also releases the carbon dioxide they were storing into the atmosphere. Beef production is a major cause of this deforestation, as with a growing population on Earth, an increasing amount of land is needed for animals to be raised.
What is causing climate change?
"Humankind has less than 12 years to avoid potentially irreversible climate disruption" ~ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2018 report
Why should we care?
We need to care about climate change and be aware of the problem for a multitude of reasons. Climate change has already put millions of lives in harm​ and it will continue to do so. The rise in temperature has many effects such as increases in global temperature, an increase in infectious diseases, sea-level rise, climate injustice, climate gentrification, water and food shortages, saltwater intrusion, food insecurity, etc. In Miami, we can already see an increase in sea level, an increase in temperatures, an increase in mosquito-borne illnesses, and a stronger hurricane season. If we continue to educate and take action ourselves then we can help prevent climate change effects from becoming irreversible.
