Have you swapped out a pair of jeans for summer shorts this past week? Or maybe you decided to throw on a sweater instead of a heavy jacket? The recent record high temperatures may appear to be enjoyable now, but they are out of the ordinary for November, a month where the weather usually begins to get colder. These rising temperatures are one of the many side-effects of climate change.
Climate is simply the Earth’s normal temperature or weather conditions over a long period of time. It usually takes hundreds of thousands of years for Earth’s temperature to rise. Harmful human activity such as using fossil fuels like oil and coal for manufacturing, deforestation, overconsumption, generating power, and producing food have caused climate temperatures to increase abnormally fast over the past couple centuries. These activities release greenhouse gases, which trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere, causing the climate to become warmer. Typically, when the Sun heats the Earth, some of the heat is reflected back into space. Greenhouse gases act as a container, trapping heat into the atmosphere. As a result, the Earth’s temperature begins to rise. This process is called the greenhouse effect.
Greenhouse gases result in many other harmful effects on Earth, including hotter temperatures, increased drought, rising sea levels, poverty and displacement, and more severe storms. Since 1850, Earth’s temperature has risen by an average of 0.06 degrees Celsius per decade. In total, Earth’s temperature has increased by 2 degrees Fahrenheit since 1850. A temperature increase on this small scale may seem insignificant, but it has notable impacts on the planet. There have been more frequent heat waves, and it is easier for wildfires to start due to the hot and dry conditions. Moreover, as these temperatures increase, moisture simultaneously evaporates, which results in extreme flooding. When water evaporates and rises into the atmosphere, during the process of condensation, denser clouds are formed. These denser clouds are created due to the larger amount of water that has been evaporated. As a result of the denser clouds there is heavier rainfall on Earth, which can lead to flooding.
Natural disasters such as hurricanes begin in warm ocean waters. As the water becomes warmer, more hurricanes are prone to happen. Natural disasters can cause mass destruction of cities and homes, which can lead to people being displaced and placed in difficult financial situations. This is the detrimental impact that climate change has on the Earth and human livelihood.
In New York City specifically, the impact of climate change has been extremely apparent. From the drought watch to record-breaking high temperatures ranging from 70 to 80 degrees in November, there are signs that Earth is crying for help. The severe lack of rainfall has caused the long dry-period. In Central Park, less than 2 inches of rain have fallen since September, and according to CBS News, this past October was the driest month ever recorded for the city. Furthermore, there was a recent brush fire in Brooklyn at Prospect Park on November 8th. The FDNY stated the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but the danger for fire outbreak is high due to the dry conditions created by the drought in the Northeast.
To raise more awareness about climate change, climate scientists have installed a climate countdown clock in Union Square, Manhattan. The clock visualizes the urgency of the action that needs to be taken to reduce carbon emissions. In 2018 and 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published reports to come up with a global carbon budget that can keep the Earth’s surface temperature below 1.5 degrees Celsius. The climate clock uses that data to display how much time we have left until this carbon budget runs out, with the increasing rate of global emissions. The clock currently states that there are 4 years left until the budget has run out, and by then the aftermath of climate change will have irreparable consequences. With the next 4 years being crucial to how climate change is addressed, political powers also play an important role in how this global issue can be approached.
This past week, the American people have decided to re-elect Donald Trump as president of the United States. On a podcast episode of the Shawn Ryan Murphy Show that aired August 26, 2024, Trump stated “the problem isn’t the fact that the oceans in 500 years will raise a quarter of an inch, the problem is nuclear weapons, its nuclear warming.” Trump, who has consistently denied climate change, has implied his plan to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. The Paris Climate Agreement is an international treaty that ensures the global effort of reducing greenhouse gas emissions so the Earth’s temperature can remain well below 2 degrees Celsius. The ideal limit is staying below 1.5 degrees Celsius. The agreement additionally assesses efforts to reach this goal, and provides financial support to countries to fight against climate change.
The United States initially signed the Paris Agreement while former-president Barack Obama was in office in 2016. In Donald Trump’s first term, he announced the United States would be withdrawing from the treaty in June of 2017, as he believed it put the country at a financial disadvantage. Trump argued that “the agreement would negatively impact economic growth, by imposing burdens on American workers and taxpayers.” However, it took 3 years for the United States to formally leave the agreement, because a country could not leave the agreement until three years had passed from the date of ratification, which was November 4, 2016. So on November 4, 2020 the United States formally withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement. Under the Biden-Harris Administration in 2021, hours after being inaugurated, President Joe Biden re-entered the United States into the treaty, which took effect on February 19, 2021.
Along with signing the Paris Climate Agreement, President Biden had many electric vehicle initiatives through the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Act was signed on November 15, 2021 and aimed to invest in electrical vehicle charging to make it accessible for Americans. The Inflation Reduction Act, signed on August 16, 2022, extended an existing $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicle purchases, which made it more affordable for people to purchase. It also included removing a 200,000 Vehicle Cap, which means automakers are not limited to offering consumers $7,500 worth of tax credit for the first 200,000 electric vehicles they sell. Prior to this, once automakers reached 200,000 vehicles the tax credit would gradually end, and electric vehicles would become more expensive and unaffordable. The aim of these acts are to use more electric vehicles, as an alternative to using vehicles that run off fossil fuels. Using the investments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, there would be more accessible charging for electric vehicles for Americans. Biden’s electric vehicle network would: “improve our air quality, reduce emissions, put us on a path to net-zero emissions by no later than 2050, and position U.S. industries to lead global efforts.” Not only does his plan help the climate, but it additionally provides a chance for disadvantaged communities to have access to these sources. Now that Donald Trump has been re-elected, he indicates plans to once again withdraw the United States from the Paris agreement and additionally eliminate the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric vehicle purchases. On his campaign trail, he has promised to “drill, baby drill” for oil, and to allow for more drilling and mining to boost the economy.
Although these unprecedented times may be scary, there is still hope. Humans can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by informing others about the dangers of climate change, reducing energy consumption (unplugging devices, air drying clothes), wasting less food, using vehicles that require less fossil fuels by biking or walking, reducing meat consumption, and switching to renewable energy. By coming together and thinking about the future condition of Earth, we can work towards the goal of making sure the climate does not reach irreversible damage.