The Earth’s climate has always naturally changed throughout history. NASA attributes these changes to very small changes in the Earth’s orbit and the amount of solar energy the planet sees. These climate changes happen over the span of 650,000 years in natural ways.
With this information, you might be wondering why everyone is making a big deal over climate change.
The current climate change trends are of concern because there is strong evidence that a significant amount of the change is human-induced. Climate change is happening at an extremely fast rate compared to the rate it should be happening if the Earth was going through it naturally.
If the science isn’t enough to convince a friend that there is a need to cut back on Earth-damaging habits, then perhaps the photos below will convince them.
As global temperatures continue to rise, places like Lodwar, Kenya are having to deal with extreme droughts as a result.
Rising temperatures don’t only mean droughts though. They’re also causing extreme flooding. This picture of Bedono, Indonesia is evidence of that.
Somerset, United Kingdom is experiencing the same types of floods as well. This image is of farmland in England during a flood in 2014. Rising temperatures cause wet places to get wetter, and dry places to get drier. In a nutshell, climate change brings out the extremes in different environments.
Another risk that dry lands are seeing from rising temperatures is forest fires. This is a photo of a brush fire in Lake Hughes, California. Scientists fear that the rising temps will only cause more fires like this one in the Golden State.
Climate change is also creating polluted air. This smog over Wuhan, China both traps heat onto the Earth’s surface and is a health concern to people in the city and surrounding areas.
While this image may look pretty, that streak of blue is actually a big cause for concern. In Greenland the melting glaciers are causing sea levels to rise. This is bad news for coastal cities around the world.
This photo of the Antarctic also shows evidence of the melting ice caps.
This watering hole in Tehuacán, Mexico is drying up due to the rising temperatures causing drastic water shortages in the area.
Seen here in Shishmaref, Alaska is a community literally falling into the sea. Rising temperatures have led to the thawing of coastline permafrost which has in turn caused high rates of erosion.
Maree, Australia is a very hot place and it’s only going to get hotter as the global temperature continues to rise at the highest rates scientists have ever seen.
This final image is a hurricane that happened off the Gulf Coast. Climate change leads to more severe storms, like this one, Hurricane Gustav, which devastated Louisiana back in 2008.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
