I would like to preface this article by disclosing my liberal status. As a reporter, I believe it is my duty to admit to any biases that I may have. However, let me be clear, the topic I am about to take on is bigger than politics. As a student of science, I am backed by an entire scientific community that confirms the reality of climate change. Don’t believe me? Go to http://climate.nasa.gov* and read up on the devastating facts, causes, and effects of climate change and then get back to me. I find it utterly shocking that climate change was only a minor topic in the recent Presidential election. As a voter, I think climate change was one of the main issues that drew me towards certain candidates.
When approaching issues like climate change, we can’t blindly believe politicians, without any background in science. I’m pointing my finger at you, Mr. Trump. (Side note: I believe that Mr. Trump needs an intervention about tweeting propaganda, but I digress). Here are five of Mr. Trump’s most outlandish tweets in regards to climate change:
This type of ideology brought on by the Trump campaign is erroneous and will ultimately ruin our Earth as we know it. Mr. Trump’s tweets show that he lacks the scientific capacity to understand the complexity of global warming. He is reinforcing a misconception onto the American people that the TEMPERATURE is an indicator of our CLIMATE. In actuality, temperature is a short-term condition of the atmosphere, while weather explains how this atmosphere behave over long-periods of time. The temperature in Indiana, Pennsylvania is 46 degrees Fahrenheit today and there is snow on the ground. Does this mean that global warming does not exist? Absolutely not. When scientists determined that the Earth is undergoing climate change, they averaged the weather patterns over periods of time. Thus, weather cannot be used as an indicator of climate change. Instead of taking a businessman’s tweets on climate change as fact, I suggest that the American people do their own research through scientifically accredited publications.
Since becoming President-elect, Mr. Trump has already appointed climate change denier, Myron Ebell, to run his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) transition team. Furthermore, Mr. Trump has insisted he will reverse the Paris Agreement and end the regulations brought on by the Clean Power Plan. This global agreement offers solutions in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which are scientifically proven to be a major contributing factor to climate change. In the words of renowned intellectual Noam Chomsky, “Donald Trump’s election will accelerate global warming and humanity’s ‘race to disaster.’” And that my fellow readers, is the legacy Mr. Trump has created for himself before even becoming the 45th President of the United States of America.
For a someone who has built a campaign on “Making America Great Again,” Mr. Trump seems to lack the intellectual capacity to understand an issue as profound as climate change. Doesn’t climate change go hand in hand with restoring America? Before trying to defend your choice for voting Trump with the “lesser of two evils” argument, please take a moment to educate yourself. If you don’t think that climate change is an important issue for voters, let me provide you with a few reasons as to why you should care.
Climate change poses drastic affects on us. These include, but are not limited to:
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Imbalance in the Earth’s water systems. This includes rising sea-levels, ocean acidity, and heat.
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Shift in natural habitats. The environmental impact of climate change is creating inhospitable environments on both land and sea. Coral and shellfish will die out, forests are dying off, and arctic ice is vanishing. These effects will ultimately alter the food chain for the worse.
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Burdens on human society. Climate change threatens agriculture and therefore causes an uncertainty for our future food security. The warmer and polluted air brought on by climate change is also very hazardous to our health. These health threats include smog and contaminated drinking water.
We are about to embark on four years of the unknown with a Trump Presidency. However, we must put aside phony conspiracy theories and accept that climate change is a scientific fact. Just because our President-elect is denying the realities of climate change, doesn’t mean that YOUR voice shouldn’t be heard. Write to your local representative’s office and demand solutions for climate change in your community. If you feel ignored, take it a step further and contact local media outlets. In order to restore our communities, promote economic innovations, and create new jobs, we must significantly reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are directly associated with climate change. In addition, make sure you do all of your research before heading to the polls for the next election. Vote for politicians who believe in climate change and support effective environmental policies. Because the only way to “Make America Great Again,” is by making our Earth great again.
* Donald Trump’s senior adviser announced plans to eliminate funding for NASA’s climate change research because it is a “politicized science.” Funds will be reallocated towards NASA’s exploration of deep space.