What has been predicted in the past is happening here and now, and people still don’t believe it. Glaciers have shrunk, ice on rivers and lakes is melting earlier, plant and animal species distribution is changing… All of this, as well as rising sea levels and higher intensity heat waves, were predicted and warned about by scientists of the past. As these predictions are proving themselves to be accurate, still 30% of Americans still don’t accept that climate change is happening. Out of the 70% that do, only 58% said they understand that global warming is caused mostly by human activities, according to a study done by the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

All human beings are at a point where realization needs to happen. We are running out of time. According to the most recent report published by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in order to avoid the most detrimental effects of climate change, “the world economy would have to transform at a speed and scale faster and larger than ever before.” Broadly explained, everyone’s way of life will have to change drastically in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the needed amount. Matter-of-factly, we need to reduce greenhouse gas pollution by 45 percent in just 12 years from now — and 100 percent by 2050 or the negative effects of climate change could be irreversible.

But what does all of this mean? What will the “detrimental effects” even be? How will this affect me and my life? Why should I care? Those questions may be hard to answer as different regions will have different effects, and in the shorter term, some of these effects may even be positive for some areas. According to NASA, for example, much of North America has and will continue to have a lengthened frost-free season which corresponds to a lengthened growing season. This will likely project across most of the U.S., focusing mainly on western, high elevation, coastal areas. This has been increasing since the 1980s, affecting ecosystems and agriculture. This may benefit some species and harm others, as well as increase wildfire risks, according to globalchange.gov.

Although the amount of wildfires has been at a slow decrease, the amount of acres affected is at an incline, according to wildfiretoday.com. As the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted into the atmosphere increases or fails to decrease, it is safe to assume these effects will only worsen in the future.

In addition to lengthened frost-seasons and more intense forest fires, events of heavy precipitation in many areas, even in regions where there has been a decrease, are trended to increase. Specifically, in the Midwest, the flooding that will occur due to the heavy rains will contribute to the effects on infrastructure, health, agriculture, forestry, transportation, and air and water quality.

Credit to Mackenzie Pugh

One of the most prominent outcomes of global warming is the melting of ice caps. In fact, it is happening so dramatically that the Arctic Ocean is expected to be essentially ice-free the summer before 2050. The water added to the ocean because of this has caused sea levels to rise about eight inches since 1880. Looking to the future, it is projected to rise another 1 to 4 feet by 2100. This has and will continue to cause storm surges and high tides. This combination will contribute to floods and land subsidence. The storm surges will also result in more intense and more frequent hurricanes.

As of right now, the Earth is in bad shape, but the effects of climate change are still reversible. 12 years. That’s all we have, so change needs to happen soon.

“The decisions we make today are critical in ensuring a safe and sustainable world for everyone, both now and in the future,” said Debra Roberts, Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group II in a summary of the IPCC report on global warming. “The next few years are probably the most important in our history.”  Globally, we need to use coal for only 1-7 percent of electric power and integrate solar and wind energy to generate about two thirds.

One major step in the direction of rehabilitation is the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement is was adopted by 195 nations at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in December 2015. The goal of these countries is to address global climate change by “holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.” American was one of these countries, however as of June 2017 our current administration withdrew the United States from the pact. Although this withdrawal has not affected the ambition of other countries around the world involved in the pact, it is a step in the wrong direction for the United States.

This was a blow to the hope of some Americans, and those in other countries, passionate in fighting climate change. There is a lot the individuals can do, however, to aid in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. One way to know where to start is to get a home energy audit, offered free by many utilities. This will tell you simple things you can do at home to reduce your carbon footprint. Things such as sealing and insulating heating and cooling ducts, installing programmable thermostats, and replacing single pane windows with double pane windows can reduce a family’s emissions by about five percent according to the National Park Service (NPS). Power plants are the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, so another way to reduce pollution is using renewable energy, such as solar. If your energy company doesn’t offer green power, you can make up for your greenhouse gas emissions by purchasing “green tags.” These are compensatory energy credits that add renewable power to the grid equal to the power you use. Individuals may also make a difference by pushing their local governments to make changes in legislation.

As the clock is ticking down, and the world that we leave for future generations to come is at stake. What will you do to make sure when those twelve years are up, we aren’t left with a mess that’s irreversible?