There will be major changes in Earth's climate soon. How soon? How drastic? Nobody, not even the best scientists know for sure.

I believe that global warming/climate change is an important topic that should be addressed and not ignored. There are inconsistencies between the thoughts and beliefs about global warming in the general public and what scientists have proven to be true.

Global warming will greatly affect our future as human beings; it’s sad that we are neglecting and overlooking it even though we caused it.

Climate change is A long-term change in the earth's climate, it can be natural or caused by changes people have made to the land or atmosphere. But in the past 100 years, climate change is proven to be caused by human activity.

One of the most convincing pieces of evidence to support the claim that climate change and Global Warming are caused by human activity, is measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide and Earth surface temperature, which is determined by Vostok ice core measurements. These measurements tell the history of the past 5 ice ages going back 400 thousand years:

Over time, temperature and CO2 are directly correlated meaning when the CO2 levels are high, the temperatures are high, and when the CO2 levels are low, the temperatures are low.

   In history, CO2 levels and temperatures vary together, but they increase and decrease in a  repeated pattern. Looking at the data and history up to now, one might predict that we will have a major temperature spike and then a huge ice age. What’s scary is that the CO2 emissions are higher than ever in the history of Earth.

From looking at the history of the past 400 thousand years, we can predict that there will be a major temperature spike along with the increased CO2 emissions, and there is already evidence that the temperature has started to rise: global warming.

The main negative outcome of Global warming, is that the average temperatures will change drastically and animals will not be able to evolve quickly enough, so there will be massive extinctions. We don't know how drastic it will be and how soon it will happen.

Another negative outcome is that  deadly viruses like Ebola and Zika are able to be spread more easily because mosquitoes and bats that need warm temperatures to live and breed, and can survive in more places due to global warming. These animals are spreading the viruses.

In the US, only half of the adults believe that climate change and global warming in the last hundred years is caused by humans. This is the lowest percentage of 20 major countries, however, over 95% of scientists are certain that it’s caused by humans. Clearly one of the best things that we can do is educate the public.

A recent research study looked into why people in the US have the wrong information. They found that “30% of teachers emphasize that recent global warming is likely due to natural causes and... of teachers who teach climate change, 31% report sending explicitly contradictory messages.” (source: Science, feb 12,  2016)

Why?
1. Science teachers weren't taught about this when they learned science.
2. This topic is not in a lot of text books.
3. The media portrays controversial ideas towards this topic causing the public to think that the causes of climate change are not agreed upon, even when they are. Because of this teachers teach it as an ongoing debate.

Our time as the human race is running out. We can work together to educate the public and stay on top of our weather, so we can create a better world for our children and grandchildren to come.