Climate Change is real, End of Story

among their supporters. The largest polluting corporations have repeatedly tried to cover up their role in the climate crisis or greenwash themselves out of the picture. Major political parties, often backed by these same corporations, push against Climate Change initiatives and regulations that could put us on track to fix climate problems.

We have known about Climate Change for most of modern human history. NASA reports that the first fundamental theory about climate change came out in 1896. We have then realized that the Earth shifts its climate every few thousand centuries and that there are warming and cooling periods within the Earth’s life cycle. But we’ve also learned just how humans have accelerated the production of greenhouse gases on Earth and thus accelerated global warming on a massive scale.

From the beginning of the Industrial Revolution into the modern day, humans have burnt various fossil fuels. From coal to crude oil to natural gas. all of these produce compounds that trap heat within our atmosphere and ultimately warm up our planet. Countless reliable sources have provided charts, graphs, and data that show how since the Industrial Revolution, the temperature on Earth has only risen with no correlation to natural temperature changes. Individual scientists and global climate groups have repeatedly outlined humanity’s impact on global warming. Oil companies, some of the most polluting entities on this planet, even knew about climate change in the 60s.

Yet in the united states, portions of the population still believe lies about climate change. That it’s not real, it’s overblown, or it wasn’t our fault, to begin with. Public figures, both educated and otherwise, stand up and spout these same beliefs, perpetuating a cycle of misinformation

Climate Change is not a debatable issue. There is no merit to any argument that suggests that Climate Change isn’t real or that countries shouldn’t be pushing for more action. Climate Change is indeed a massive problem that seems, to many, too far off to fix. But any questions about the validity of scientific data surrounding the issue, let alone discussion of whether it’s fake or not, is not only a waste of time but outright reductive to the discourse.

This issue isn’t a moral one or a beliefs-based argument, it is a fundamental problem that this planet faces, and anyone arguing against climate programs is doing so in bad faith. An example of this bad faith is anti-climate politicians. These individuals (who are often right-leaning) push hard against Climate Change initiatives like funding renewable energy projects, regulating polluting companies, or replacing fossil fuel sources. At the same time, they take massive donations from the same companies and polluters that these types of legislation seek to stop.

Next time a representative pushes reductive climate deregulation or openly supports big fossil fuels, take a look at their donations list, to see who’s really talking. Throughout the coming years, citizens around the country must support leaders that believe in the truth, who keep climate change at the forefront of lawmaking. We must also vote out the corrupt and unrepresentiveive figures that continue to disregard this growing issue. Voting promotes progress, and to prevent our world from surcoming to Climate Change, we must not surcome to bad ideas.

by Sydney Martinez

What is climate change?

Earth has always had a changing climate; however, the change has been increasing drastically since the start of the 20th century. Throughout history the earth has undergone a total of eight warming and cooling periods naturally. But most of these changes have not been as detrimental as the current warming cycle Earth is experiencing. Climate change is the long-term change of different climates in different regions around the world; for example, this could mean that climates with heavy rainfall are now experiencing drier weather. This is detrimental for the wellbeing of plants and animals that have adapted to these specific climates. Through research from both space and land it is clear to 97 percent of scientists that these current changes are a direct result of irresponsible human interaction with the planet.

“I think it is scary to think about the effects that climate change could have on us and future generations,” Nicole Githanga (11) said. “I hope that the impacts that we have had can be reversed.”

Since the Industrial Revolution, the state of the planet has been under observation. The conclusion of scientific data reveals that human activity has increased the Earth’s global temperature by 1.8 degrees. The burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil creates greenhouse gasses around the Earth. This effect causes temperatures to rise considering atmospheric gasses such as carbon dioxide and methane are trapping the sun’s energy. This not only results in global temperatures rising, but, sea levels rising, melting glaciers, and extreme weather patterns.

Carbon dioxide is the leading greenhouse gas causing rising temperatures. Without climate change, the Earth would be too cold to support life. However, with a growing population and more fossil fuels being burned, the temperature is rapidly increasing. This is because CO2 can absorb infrared energy at different wavelengths. As the inferred energy is absorbed, it moves in all directions. Half of the energy emitted goes back into space, but the other half returns to heat up the Earth.

Symptoms of climate change

Similarly to climate, many of the Earth’s systems change naturally throughout time. According to NASA, the shape and size of our oceans have changed multiple times considering the dramatic ice age cycles; however, throughout Earth’s history the level has remained quite constant until recently. Due to the increasing temperature, the ocean is expanding contributing to the seven inch rise over the past century. The ocean absorbs most of the heat being trapped in our atmosphere meaning that expanding seas could become an even bigger problem in the near future. Many cities such as Venice, Italy are becoming submerged in the ocean due to the rising sea levels. Although many of these coastal cities are small, they contribute to thirty percent of the world’s population.

“It’s sad because Venice is historic and beautiful and has a lot of historic significance. I think we should use more sustainable products to protect cities like Venice,” Tori Barnes (12) said.

Over the last few centuries, glaciers have been retreating at an increasing rate. At the end of the last ice age, the total amount of glaciers covered a total of thirty percent of the Earth. However, in our current time, they now cover around 10 percent of the planet. Although Antarctica holds the most ice on earth, the Greenland ice sheets are losing the most ice every year. Greenland only accounts for 10 percent of the total ice sheets found on Earth, however if it melted it would lead to a seven meter increase in sea level. Over the last 24 years, there has been a total loss of 28 trillion tons of glaciers world-wide.

Since the 1950’s the record high temperatures have been increasing while record low temperatures have been decreasing specifically in the United States. Considering the rising temperatures, the warm air holds moisture and leads to increasingly heavy rainfall. The extra heat accumulated in the air and oceans leads to larger and more intense storms. The effects of these massive storms are extreme weather events such as floods.

In 2022 the United States experienced 18 extremely devastating natural disasters ranging from hurricanes to drought, caused by our changing climate. This resulted in 474 deaths and cost our economy around $165 billion. Currently, specifically in Georgia, the climate is starting to heat up rapidly. Currently Georgia averages about twenty dangerously hot days per year. This is expected to increase to around ninety days within the next thirty years. Luckily Marietta City Schools is taking a stand against climate change.

Local support for awareness

this zero waste policy into their learning by producing a zero waste lunch to present to their class.

“In science class, we talked about how every piece of trash gets put into a landfill and over time will cause an abundance of waste,” said Thompson.

The school’s lessons about sustainability are not over yet. Students will soon be going on a field trip to honor students that have completed a project on the 17 global goals provided by the United Nations. At the end of the year students will start to learn about how their actions do not just impact …, but impact the climate as well.

At Marietta High, faculty is advocating for better waste management strategies. Our school does not offer recycling as a method of waste management, however Michelle Logue, a science teacher, is trying to make a change.

“I would like recycling bins because when you recycle materials you’re putting less in the environment. When trash goes into regular landfills and decomposes it releases extra gases into the atmosphere” Logue said.

Excess amounts of plastic, cardboard, and paper are wasted throughout the school. This can have a bigger impact on the environment than one would think. These materials can get into our local rivers and even make it out to the oceans, so reducing and recycling can help save aquatic and land species.

“I recycle and grow my own vegetables and herbs. I also reuse a lot because I don’t like to waste plastic,” said Logue.

Logue encourages students to try to practice sustainable methods at school and home to limit the effects of climate change. She also encourages students to pay attention to the changing environment and not turn a blind eye to the effects of our actions.

Good news about the ozone layer

Marietta High School and Marietta Sixth Grade Academy (MSGA) are trying to advocate for more sustainable practices to combat climate change. At MSGA students are currently learning about how their sustainable actions can impact the planet. They recently went on a field trip to the Mercedes-Benz stadium to learn about their zero waste policy.

“Mercedes-Benz Stadium focused on how the stadium was built using “green” practice, said science teacher Amy Thompson. “They showed us the garden where they grow fruits and vegetables which they use to produce food and sell to guests in the stadium.”

Students learned about the stadium’s commitment to keep 90 percent of all trash away from landfills. Students were able to visit the waste recovery room where workers sort through all wasted materials to determine what is compostable or recyclable. Students have incorporated