Originally published on the CGS blog on September 17, 2014.
In our world, there has never been a greater threat to humanity since the emergence of climate change. Last week, the UN Meteorological Organization released a report that CO2 levels on our planet are rising at an uncontrollable rate. If that’s not concerning enough, most of the major greenhouse gases emitted into our atmosphere reached an all-time high level in the year 2013.
Eventually, these gases will become more catastrophic and inflict widespread devastation to the point where the planet can no longer cope. In fact, the rise of these gases on earth are the leading cause of climate change, resulting in changes in the earth’s atmosphere and temperature as well as widespread drought, flooding, and devastating storms. And while one may think that CO2 only affects the atmosphere, that’s wrong too! Higher CO2 levels drastically change our oceans and raise the acidity of the water. With a greater output in the amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, our planet will not have the ability to convert these gases back into the air that we breathe. Although invisible, the effects from these gases will eventually force animals to migrate or go extinct, increase the probability of war, cause drought and famine, and ultimately threaten our very existence as a species.
While this report is alarming, it is critical that world leaders react to these changes to mitigate the effects of climate change. We have all heard of the effects of climate change through the accounts of scientists, reports, news articles, and even in some blockbuster hits like The Day After Tomorrow. World leaders must act at the upcoming UN Climate Summit, scheduled to be held on September 23rd.
It is at this Climate Summit that world leaders will discuss methods and solutions towards combating climate change. With these talks, we hope that they take action and consider the seriousness of an altered environment due to changes in the climate. With this recent UN report discussing the rise of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, I hope world leaders wake up to reality, take the initiative, and understand that our planet cannot sustain the current output of CO2 and other gases.
It is imperative that this summit galvanizes world leaders and countries to sign an agreement by 2015 to combat climate change. In fact, we must invest heavily into sources of renewable energy and change our habits as a people. Climate change is not going to wait for us to change, and if we wait too long, we will reach a point of no return where we can do nothing to save the planet. So let’s try to reduce our carbon footprint in an effort to limit the emission of these gases. The golden rule states that you should “treat others as you want to be treated.” Well, why shouldn’t we also treat the earth as we want to be treated?
