Climate Change: A Hoax or A Real Threat

 Argumentative Essay by Norman John Bandibas 

Climate change refers to changes in weather patterns over a long period of time. Some people think climate change is just a deception or not an urgent matter. Proponents of this idea state that temperature changes are part of a natural process because climate change has happened many times in the earth's history. Other people also believe climate change is good because it benefits agriculture because of increased rainfall and fertilization of CO2. They also do not believe that climate change is not a significant threat. Despite that, climate change is a real and urgent threat.

First, unlike in the past, climate change today is caused by human activities. The main driver of climate change is greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide. According to an article from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), carbon dioxides in the atmosphere are higher compared to any time since in the past 400,000 years. Also, climate change destroys more agriculture than benefits it. Another article from the United States Environmental Protection Agency stated that crop yields, livestock, and fisheries have increased because of increased floods, droughts, and temperature. Lastly, climate change might kill many people by 2030 – 2052 if the trend continues. The amount of carbon dioxide has been abnormally very high since a few hundred thousand years ago. It implies that human activities since the industrial period caused carbon dioxide to skyrocket quickly. As a result, it caused the average global temperature to rise by 1° C and will reach an increase of 1.5° C by 2030 – 2052, according to an article by Caroline Kamerbeek. As stated in an article by Michael Oppenheimer, a climate scientist, if the temperature rises around 1.5 to 2 degrees, we will reach a danger zone where many people die.

Therefore, climate change is a real and urgent threat. It is not caused by natural processes but by human activities. It eradicates agriculture and might kill many people in the future. There are many reasons why climate change is affecting us right now.