Global warming gears up

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Photo courtesy of Leah Krompecher

Juniors Sam Treasure and David Larsen walking to their class during one of the warm fronts.

Leah Krompecher, Features Editor

Global warming has been a hot topic recently- no pun intended.
The earth’s temperature has been gradually increasing over the past 100 years (⅔ of this increase has occurred since 1975, and the belief that Earth’s climate could permanently change is known as global warming. Studies show that global warming is caused by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, and the clearing of land/deforestation. This results in habitat loss for animals which can also lead to animals being endangered, droughts, and rising sea levels.
“It’s definitely a big problem that us as a species needs to come together to make a change and although some people may not realize that if humans continue living the way we do that it will only get worse,” said senior Aleah Leonard.
Throughout this past election, the debate over climate change and global warming has grown tremendously. President Trump claims to have an open mind to climate change, however in the past he has called it a “hoax” and he once said that climate change was “invented by the Chinese.” Trump’s beliefs towards global warming have upset many people, and he has made global warming a political issue.
“The facts and statistics on global climate change do not change based on where you stand on the political spectrum,” said junior Neil Kratzer.
With President Trump being a part of the Republican Party, people have begun to generalize and say that all Republicans believe that global warming is a hoax. Calvin Pastel, a junior who comes from a conservative background doesn’t think global warming is fake, he just focuses his attention on issues other than climate change.
“Coming from an incredibly Republican Marine father, I don’t really pay attention to the environment or global warming,” said Pastel.
Not all Republicans believe that global warming is fake. However, some do and some Democrats do too.  Like Kratzer said, it doesn’t matter what your political views are. Global warming should not be associated with either political party, because it is a scientific fact. Scientists have proven that the Earth’s temperatures are rising.
“Right now we are on the brink of the point of no return with climate change, so we need to do something as soon as possible,” said Kratzer.
Climate change is going to continue to be a problem unless people start acknowledging the issue and begin to take action to help prevent global warming.
“We need to secure a decent future for following generations. We can take steps to stop factory farming and make electric cars more affordable and attractive,” said senior Conner Ullian.