There’s no denying that global warming is one of the main world issues, but even with the scientific evidence, there is still a huge misconception of whether it is a matter of science or opinion. In a study done by Business Insider of 3022 randomly selected Americans, the majority of anti climate changers said that they simply “do not see the weather changing around them.” Climate change won’t necessarily change the weather in your hometown, but here are some things that it is doing.

Climate change is warming the ocean. The average temperature of the top 100 feet of ocean has risen .06 degrees fahrenheit since 1969. Antarctica’s ice sheets are melting, with Greenland losing 279 billion tons of ice per year since 1993. The average global temperature has risen 2.05 degrees fahrenheit. Glacier sizes are declining around the world. The global sea level has risen 8 inches. This list could go on, but you get the point. These changes may not seem durastic, but remember that we are talking about geological time and size. There are 321,000,000 cubic miles of water in the ocean, so to heat up the upper layer by .06 degrees is a big deal.  Here is a graph of Ocean temperatures starting at 1880. From 1880 to about 1940 Ocean temperatures appear to be stable. Then from 1940 to the mid 1970’s the temperatures go back and forth. Then BOOM! From about 1975 to 2015, which is when the graph ends, there is a huge increase in the Oceans temperature.

Some people argue that these are just global temperature trends, and that temperatures have always risen and declined. Well let’s take a look at this CO2 emissions graph. Starting around 1850 there was a slight rise in CO2 emissions. Then at some point in the 1950s CO2 emissions sky rocket. These two graphs have very similar patterns. It’s not just about ocean temperature. You could look at most global warming graphs and they would look similar to a global CO2 emissions graph. 

With false information so easily accessible on the internet and politicians who still do not openly admit to climate change, you could see why a large number of people who aren’t convinced. Below is the closing statement from an interview with vice president Mike pence in 2019. Jake tapper originally asked if Pence thought that “climate change is an emergency threat to the United states.” After much confusion Pence would not directly address the question. 

TAPPER: OK. So you don’t think it is a threat, is all I’m saying? You don’t think it is a threat?

PENCE: I think we’re making great progress reducing carbon emissions, America has the cleanest air and water in the world. We will continue to use market forces…

TAPPER: That is not true. We don’t have the cleanest air and water in the world.

America is the tenth ranked country when it comes to air quality, and falls behind fifteen countries when it comes to drinking water, making Pences statement totally incorrect. 

Just recently the new republican supreme court nominee Amy Barret was asked her views on climate change during the  Senate Judiciary committee interview. Judge Barret referred to climate change as a “very continuous matter of public debate” and then proceeded to say that she “will not express a view on a matter of public policy, especially one that is politically controversial.” Yeah… scary. This is not a matter of politics or opinion, in fact, it has nothing to do with democrats or republicans. This is a global issue that we must continue to educate ourselves on and find individual ways to cut down on individual CO2 emissions. 

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