Climate change is real and has become a global problem. People around the world live in denial of its existence but the evidence is too overwhelming. In the Arctic, the ice caps have been melting for decades but, mankind is oblivious to this fact, or worse they do not care.
Greenland lost so much ice last week alone that it could cover West Virginia in a foot of water. According to Studies, the ice loss suffered in the Greenland ice sheet will result in about 10 inches of sea level rise. That is the same amount of water that seas and other bodies of water across the world have grown over the last century from Greenland, Antarctica, and thermal expansion.
A research team from the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland monitored changes in ice sheet volume and concluded that meltwater runoff has been the “primary driver” for the massive loss of water. The team predicts that 3.3% of the Greenland ice sheet which is equivalent to 110 trillion tons of ice will melt this century. As sea levels can see a rapid and intense rise over the next 30 years.
If this does not alarm mankind then what will? The posterity of the human race is at risk. States could be underwater by 2050, it is scary and continues to expand with its danger. Humans have abused the earth and tainted its natural resources. Gas has infested the skies, pollution has poisoned the ocean and fires raze the land with their destructive flame. The time is now, the dire is cast, and haste is needed. The more people are oblivious to the obvious the less chance there is for a better world. Though many believe climate change is the least of our problems, it is a problem nonetheless that must be acknowledged, addressed, and changed.
For future generations, there may be many roadblocks to recovering what could be tainted and destroyed by those that have come before. This entails the ocean, which continues to rise due to global warming and is polluted by gas, plastic, and waste year after year.
There are wars in eastern European countries forever leaving their youth traumatized, started by a man drunk on power and communist ideals. Diseases like monkeypox, COVID-19, and polio raise worry among medical experts while processed foods and artificial sweeteners contribute to cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases.
The world should be a place of flourishing economies and positivity in the communities. Older generations should not sleep comfortably knowing that the future of mankind could inherit a world of plague, violence, pollution, and recession. The decisions that leaders with seats of power make now will send a ripple effect through time. Staying steadfast and vigilant is a necessity as the time is now to prepare and protect.
Written by Mikal Eggleston
Source:
The Washington Post: Greenland ice sheet set to raise sea levels by nearly a foot, study finds
NPR: Greenland ice sheet set to raise sea levels by nearly a foot, study finds
Featured Image Courtesy of Craig James’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Andreas’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
