As the summer’s heat begins to lessen – painfully slow if I do say so myself – I have started to reflect on the different changes in weather that have been observed all throughout the country. Arguably, this past summer seems to have been the hottest one yet, with odd fluctuations in weather conditions. You may or may not wonder why this is so? Well, it’s that dreaded word for some: “Global Warming”.
Global warming is a very real situation that not only us, but primarily generations ahead will have to suffer the consequences for. Now, with fossil fuel companies growing and greenhouse gases being released at a faster rate, global warming is accelerating at an abnormal pace—a pace that we cannot keep up with if things do not change soon. And I’m not just talking about the simple things like using less water or turning off the lights when you leave a room (things that tree huggers like myself love to advertise and encourage); I am referring to more intense causations such as our country’s growing fossil fuel industry, its emissions of greenhouse gases, and things of this nature. Furthermore, we will also be seeing a drastic and negative drawback in our hopes to slow the rate of global warming if the United States withdraws from the Paris Agreement. This agreement has been placed in hopes to lessen the impact of climate change and to aim for sustainability with many different countries being under this contract. However, President Trump’s goal is to leave the Paris Agreement so that industries do not have to follow certain regulations and procedures. Despite his wishes, this cannot be done until 2020, and until then, the U.S. will still have to report the country’s emission statistics and information to the U.N.
Personally, I believe that removing the U.S. from the Paris Agreement will, in the end, be one of the biggest mistakes we have ever made. Yes, we will be able to see a peak in our economy due to these massive fossil-fuel industries, but the long-term effect on the environment, on people’s health, and in people’s lives will ultimately overrule this short-term result. We are the ones that are really pushing the rate of global warming, with our extremely high numbers in greenhouse-gas emissions and we are setting a path of failure for our grandchildren. We fail to realize that we are not ruining the environment in our lifetime, but we are ruining it for generations ahead. Due to us not seeing the consequences at this very moment, we become idle to the true reality that is yet to come. We are unfairly stripping away future society’s chance of living in this beautiful world with vast forests, great wildlife, unpolluted streams, and very blue skies—things we take for granted every single day.
I believe we need to think not of ourselves, but about the faces and names of those we do not know in this moment, but may come to know in the future. I beg that people realize that money should not be our major deciding factor when it comes to big decisions like this. We still have our humanity and that should guide us. We should understand our role in this world and how it will inevitably impact the future for many years to come. We need to be wise and most importantly, we need to be selfless.