Climate change is the cause of sea levels rising, intense droughts threatening crops, ice caps melting, and numerous other issues. According to NASA, global temperature increased by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1880. Nine of the ten warmest years on record have occurred since 2000. Global climate change is a major threat to the future of our earth because many people are unaware of the problem and some are reluctant to change due to the socioeconomics of our world. Many people are unaware of the severity of climate change, arguing that earth has experienced cyclical changes to its climate patterns for millennia and that recent climatic shifts are not as severe as indicated or necessarily a consequence of human activity alone. Throughout the history of our world, climate change has fluctuated similarly to today. During the Cretaceous period, which ended about 66 million years ago, life flourished despite high carbon dioxide levels because greenhouse gases were increased slowly and balanced with carbon in the ocean. In recent years, greenhouse gases have …show more content…
Most commonly, skeptics say that the climate has changed before, and, although this is true, these time periods were marked by mass extinction and destruction. When carbon dioxide levels were high in the past, such as the Cretaceous period, life flourished because greenhouse gases were increased slowly and balanced with carbon in the ocean. Recently, greenhouse gases have increased abruptly, similarly to the Triassic period, which was when 90 percent of Earth’s species were destroyed. Another popular myth is that climate change is caused by the sun, but research shows the exact opposite. Over the last 35 years, the sun has shown a cooling trend due to a decrease in energy, even though the Earth has been