President-elect Donald Trump’s policies have undoubtedly sparked controversy, and his stance on climate change is no exception. Trump’s position has fluctuated over the years, but he is currently firm on the belief that climate change is a hoax.
Keeping up with the generation, Trump exposes himself to people of all ages and connects with this generation’s means of informational source: social media. He enforces his opinions using social platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. In his posts, Trump voices his claims about the inconsistencies with the weather temperatures throughout the United States. He refers to the falseness in a relationship between the climate and human influence. Trump also jokes that global warming was invented in order to advance and perpetuate business towards China.
Contrary to popular belief, Trump thinks that the extreme temperature fluctuations that come with global warming are a natural process and not caused by humans; science proves this to be invalid. Researchers have observed natural fluctuations between global warming and cooling and natural cycles caused by changes in Earth’s orbit that affect overall climate; they have observed that humans are, in fact, responsible for various causing factors of climate change.
The predominant cause of human-induced warming is the emission of greenhouse gases through the combustion of fossil fuels in cars, factories, and electricity production. The release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouses gases has increased by 20% since 1990 due to a rise in human activities that emit these harmful gases as byproducts. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) agree that global warming is primarily caused by human contribution.
The changes in climate are happening quickly and are greatly affecting the world around us. For instance, the temperatures in polar regions are increasing twice as fast, causing the mountain glaciers and ice sheets to melt and disappear rapidly. This causes a disturbance in the environment and the wildlife that live in cold climates.
Cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Miami located near the ocean are directly faced with the rising sea levels caused by climate change. Sea levels are expected to rise one to four feet by the end of the century. When asked about the gravity of global warming and environmental changes in general, Senior Nicholas Dos-Hom commented, “Environmental pollution is a very serious problem. With that being said, there is nothing that we can do to stop what has already been done; we have to prevent [climate change] from getting any worse. For example, we are a long way away from a fully clean energy society and we need to also be looking into ways to protect ocean side cities such as New York City.”
With most now acknowledging that climate change is a global threat, there are now various changes being made to reduce global emissions. The National Resources Defense Council is working on instilling clean energy standards and national limits on carbon emissions in the country. Various other projects around the globe are working on linking electric vehicles to a clean power grid. Social Studies teacher John O’Malley claims that “we should address these problems as a community and work to reduce our carbon footprint.”
Science contradicts the president-elect’s stance on environmental issues. Climate change is very real, and everyone in the world is facing it. Chemistry teacher Adel Kadamani stated, “The environment should be first priority; pollution is in the air, in the ground, and in the water.”
