Earth, the planet we live on, is experiencing climate change. It is well known that the world is experiencing long-term changes in temperature and weather patterns. According to the American Public Health Association, severe weather such as storms, wildfires, and tornadoes are becoming more frequent.
Recently, unusual weather has hit El Paso. According to the National Weather Service, there was a 50 percent chance of snow on January 9.
“There was snow last week which does not happen often,” freshman Danna Suarez said. “It was really nice to see a change though.”
Danna believes the changes could just be related to winter.
“It is winter, so snow is bound to happen,” Danna said. “It is just rare seeing snow in El Paso because it is usually just the air that is cold.”
Although Earth’s climate has been changing for thousands of years, the World Meteorological Organization says “the rate of climate change surges alarmingly between 2011-2020.”
“It is really concerning,” junior Alexis Turner said. “It’s scary how the weather changing rapidly can affect us.”
From the World Economic Forum speech in 2019, David Attenborough, a naturalist, says the world “is the most precious thing we have, and we need to defend it.”
“This is like a wakeup call for everyone,” Alexis said. “The consequences if we do not do anything can be very dangerous.”
For freshman Natalie Kelso, she thinks that it will not matter if we do not do anything.
“It will be a long time before something big actually happens,” Natalie said. “So it does not really concern me.”
NASA has predicted the Artic Ocean soon to be ice-free. The loss of sea ice, glaciers melting, sea levels rising, and increased heat waves predict that sea levels will rise as high as 6.6 feet (two meters) by 2100.
“It’s sad that the ice caps are melting in the Artic Ocean,” Natalie said. “Because of that, there will probably be more flooding.”
Ultimately, climate change is a big deal for students and teachers.
“It is really important for people to know about it,” geography teacher Christopher Gonzales said. “It’s our world.”
