There are two sides to the climate change debate. Either you agree with the fact that the earth is changing, or you do not. I for one am a firm believer the climate is changing because of human activity. There are several indicators present to confirm climate change is a real thing such as the rising of average temperatures and sea levels, longer droughts, and extreme weather changes.

According to the article Global Temperatures, (https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/decadaltemp.php) average temperatures across the globe have risen by nearly 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the past 140 years. Within this increase over 2/3rds of this has occurred in just the past 40 years. The time in which this all starts indicates that the increase in temperature correlates to the time in which humans started to become heavily industrialized. During the 1800s, factories emerged, trains and vehicles, and fossil fuel emission. Of course as time progresses, we become more and more industrialized and create more sources in which to emit the greenhouse gasses, which is why we see a huge spike after 1975. The rising of temperatures effect a number of things. This leads to ice caps melting, a rise in sea levels, a rise in sea temperature and stronger weather patterns.

Of course when temperatures rise, ice melts. Greenland’s ice sheet edges are shrinking inland, Kilimanjaro has nearly 80% less snow than it did just 100 years ago, and the Himalayas glaciers are disappearing at alarming rates leaving several scientists wondering if it will even be around in the next 20 years, as stated in the article titled The Big Thaw, (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/big-thaw/ ) . There is no way to question this change as there are multiple pictures captured by NASA showing less and less snow on earth every year. Of course, as the ice melts, we begin to experience a rise in sea levels. Sea levels have risen several inches around the world in a very short time period. Some locations have already felt the effects of rising sea levels, but as it continues to rise, more places will experience flooding, loss of land, and loss of plant and wildlife.

One of the strongest standpoints that back the reasoning of climate change is the

increase in extreme weather patterns in these last years. As I mentioned before there is proof that the ice caps are melting, and with that comes more water in the seas. With the temperature becoming warmer, that means more warm water in the seas. As many people know, hurricanes begin their journey in warm water. With the increase in warm water, there is a longer period of time where the hurricane can feed off this warm water, becoming bigger and bigger, according the article 5 Ways Climate Change Could be Making Hurricanes Worse, (http://time.com/4933743/hurricane-irma-climate-change-global-warming/ ). The increase in sea levels doesn’t help either. This means that there will be even more water for the hurricane to carry onto land, resulting in devastating floods. A prime example of this occurrence was with Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, which were both awful natural events and I’m sorry to anyone who had to experience them.

Climate change is real, and it is shown through centuries of data and everyday occurrences that happen worldwide.