Why climate change should be everyone’s number one priority

Why+climate+change+should+be+everyone%E2%80%99s+number+one+priority

By Isabela Casimiro, Perspectives Editor

The huge amount of posts on the internet of animals going extinct or losing their homes due to global warming has many feeling regrets.  

However, no one seems to be doing anything about it.

According to The New York Times, “humans are transforming Earth’s natural landscapes so dramatically that as many as one million plants and animal species are now at risk of extinction, posing a dire threat to ecosystems that people all over the world depend on for their survival.”

People spend their time on the internet expressing their ‘concern’ over endangered animals and the few years the earth has left rather than actually doing something about it.

To make matters even worse, people don’t actually see global warming as an issue threatening our planet.

According to Pew Research, “Americans are less likely to be concerned about climate change, with 59 percent seeing it as a serious threat.” More than 50 percent of Americans blame global warming on ISIS and North Korea’s nuclear program. They are more concerned over cyber attacks.

Even the United States government isn’t concerned about global warming.

According to The New York Times, “$4.75 trillion budget proposal released this week (beginning of March), the administration called for cuts across multiple agencies to programs aimed at reducing planet-warming emissions.”

The Trump administration is the enemy we are up against in order to improve the earth’s ecosystem.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s proposal, the Green New Deal, is the first step in improving global warming and actually enforcing everyone’s right to a clean planet.

However, the Trump administration and the Republicans are pushing the Green New Deal to the side and are only making it harder for Ocasio-Cortez to pass her proposal.

Even if Ocasio-Cortez’s proposal doesn’t pass, there are a variety of ways to help improve the earth’s ecosystem.

According to the University of California, “reducing nutrient and plastic pollution, better managing global fisheries and creating marine reserves can all alleviate pressures on marine animals, giving them a better chance of adapting to long-haul challenges like climate change.”

This is only one of the many solutions that can help the earth and they are in need of immediate action because, according to the United Nations, we only have 12 years left to fix the earth before it becomes too late.