While many articles you find will tell you about climate change over the course of centuries, this Earth Day, it is important to show the more immediate signs of climate change. Over the course of just a single year, our planet has been rapidly changing due to the lifestyle of us humans, and it is crucial to understand the immense impact we can have in only a short amount of time.
In 2022, there was an average global concentration of CO₂ of 421 ppm (parts per million), while In 2023, it rose to about 424 ppm, as stated by Climate Portal. According to climate.nasa.gov, on December 26, 2022, the sea level was 93.4 (±4.00) mm. A year later, at the end of 2023, December 18, 2023, the sea level was 103.8 (±4.00) mm. This shows an increase of over ten mm. Similarly, on November 14, 2022, the mass of ice sheets in Antarctica was -2286 (±27) Gt. A year later, on November 14, 2023, the ice sheets were at a mass of -2468 (±64) Gt. Temperature extremes have also grown. As explained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration the global surface temperature was 1.98 degrees F above average in 2022. However, 2023 brought a global surface temperature of 2.12 degrees F above average. 2023 was also the hottest year on record.
After interviewing multiple students, 2/3 of the students said that they thought they could have the ability to help solve climate change, but another 2/3 did not know how they would start. Fortunately, April 22 brings along many opportunities to help the Earth with it. If you find yourself with nothing to do on Earth Day, a great place to start is its official website. Earthday.org was founded by the creators and organizers of the first Earth Day and provides many great opportunities and events you can participate in to help save our planet. If you are looking for something quick and easy, you can simply donate to the official Earth Day website, or other organizations like the Canopy Project, working to reforest areas that need it. If, however, you want to get involved in an event, consider participating in the Great Global Clean Up. According to earthday.org, “The Great Global Cleanup is a worldwide campaign aimed at ridding the environment of waste and plastic pollution for good” You can use this link to find a cleanup near you: https://www.earthday.org/campaign/cleanup/#map. If there aren’t any near you, you can organize your own using the instructions in the Great Global Cleanup Toolkit: https://www.earthday.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2024-The-Great-GLobal-Cleanup-Toolkit.pdf. Many more great chances and information to help out the Earth are provided on this website.
Hopefully, what you take away from this information is that our Earth is changing, and not in a good way. With our climate’s condition actively changing for the worse, we shouldn’t be waiting for adults to solve this issue. The students of today are the scientists of tomorrow. We need to act NOW for the future of our planet, and not just for the humans, but for other inhabitants of this planet, that could outlive us and our shenanigans.
SOURCES:
https://climate.mit.edu/ask-mit/how-can-such-small-amount-carbon-dioxide-atmosphere-only-around-420-parts-million-cause-so#:~:text=In%20June%202023%2C%20the%20National,parts%20per%20million%20(ppm).&text=This%20means%20that%20of%20every,atmosphere%2C%20424%20are%20CO2.
https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/ice-sheets/?intent=111
https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/sea-level/?intent=111
https://www.noaa.gov/news/2023-was-worlds-warmest-year-on-record-by-far
https://www.noaa.gov/news/2022-was-worlds-6th-warmest-year-on-record#:~:text=The%202022%20Northern%20Hemisphere%20surface,a%20degree%20C)%20above%20average.
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/monthly-report/global/202313#:~:text=Updated%20NOAAGlobalTemp%20dataset-,Global%20Temperatures,previous%20record%20set%20in%202016.
