As we enter into the roaring 20’s and say our goodbye’s to the 2010s, we must look upon the good and the bad. There were good moments, of course, from the ice buck challenge raising tons of awareness for ALS to the US legalizing same-sex marriage across the nation to capturing our first ever image of a black hole. But of course, the decade had its downs. One of the biggest debates right now is climate change, and unfortunately, 2010-2019 was the hottest decade ever on record. We can debate about global warming all we want, but the numbers do not lie.
And there is evidence that people do care about this issue. A Swiss glacier has lost 80% – 90% of its volume since 2006, and in September of 2019, hundreds held a funeral service for the “disappeared” glacier. The glacier had been monitored since 1893, and will be the first one taken off of Switzerland’s glacier surveillance network.
Yes, people care about rising temperatures, but that’s not stopping anything. Let’s look at a graph plotting the upward trend of global temperatures:
The past 10 years saw eight of the hottest years ever documented, with the only two other years being 1998 and 2005. And the thing is, scientists don’t see a way to stop the temperatures from dropping. The factors that made the 2010s have such high temperatures will not stop, and the 2020s are predicted to top the records. According to Gavin Schmidt, head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the global warming trend has been close to linear since 1970. Schmidt states that our future depends on “what we do with [greenhouse gas] emissions.”
Scientists are also more certain than ever that there is a link between human activity and rising global temperatures. As temperatures start to rise, devastating consequences can take place. One such effect is the probably of extreme weather events happening more often. We have already experienced this, as wildfires rage unchecked across Australia and other unfortunate locations. The US also goes through polar seasons, with some of the hottest summers and colder-than-normal winters. Another big consequence is rising sea levels. As temperatures start to rise, our ice caps will start melting. The melted ice adds to the oceans, causing water levels to go up. Polar ice in the Arctic, Antarctic, Greenland, North and South Americas, Europe, and Asia are expected to significantly raise sea levels.
As these dramatic effects plague our world, human society must be prepared. Impactful events such as drought, severe weather, and loss of arable land will surely alter the way we live. We must do everything we can to try and combat rising temperatures, but we must also be ready to face the consequences.