Many people, including those in power, do not believe in climate change despite the evidence. Trump recently broke from the rest of the G20 and did not support efforts to combat climate change.

28% of students in a Bob Jones class either do not believe in it or do not care. 60.9% do. Although global warming is a regular cycle for Earth, humans have accelerated it. 

Others argue there is no need to worry about it. A few degrees won’t kill anyone. The problem is that coral reefs are very sensitive to temperature as well as pollution. It is true they need warm climates, but they had that before the temperature began rising. There has been a large amount of coral bleaching, which is when coral dies due to stress.

Freshman Margaret Jenkins believes climate change is caused by “too much Co2 in the earth’s atmosphere because of the burning of fossil fuels. It traps the sun’s heat, and this causes the greenhouse effect to be too strong, resulting in increased global temperatures and an increase in the frequency and intensity of severe storms. It also causes the Arctic and Antarctic ice to melt at a faster rate, causing a rise in sea levels.” Junior Madeline Shrode said it is caused by “unregulated corporations that just cover up environmental red flags as opposed to actual fixing them when issues arise.”

How can we alter the harm that’s already been done? Freshman Cooper Skelley said that we can slow down global warming by using less non-renewable sources. Margaret Jenkins proposed that we could “invest in alternative energy, especially wind and solar, and try to conserve resources and flush toilets less.” Other students think we should all recycle more and create less waste that turns into pollution. By unplugging devices when they are not being used, driving less, and eating local, you can work towards making the world more inhabitable.

Although there is no real way to “solve” global warming and climate change easily and quickly, each person can work towards making their carbon footprint smaller. Unfortunately, our nation’s leaders could make the most impact, but their decision-making does not reflect an interest in it. Trump’s EPA just made it easier to build new coal plants and want to reduce or even eliminate the tax credit for electric cars.