Climate change is real, dangerous, and desperately needs attention. We are killing our planet and ignoring it.

NASA reports that cebergs in Greenland are melting rapidly and surface water temperatures have gone up, and as a result, the water levels have risen by eight inches in the last century.

Eight inches may not sound like a lot, but it is the reason why coastal cities are panicking and entire island nations are migrating to the main land. They are leaving behind cultures and homes because of a problem they do the least to create.

What’s the worst part about all of this? The United States government is doing absolutely nothing about it.

In a documentary about Climate Change called “Before The Flood,” the filmmaker claims that 162 people in our government, as of 2015, are paid off by big fossil fuel companies to deny climate change and make sure certain bills restricting those comapnies don’t get passed.

Our government is sitting and watching the world burn, flood, crumble, and collapse all because theyre getting a few million in campaign money from Doritos, Kraft, and Shell.

Yet another problem is that science in itself is never 100%. Ever. That’s just not how science works, it is never possible to say that something will always happen 100% of the time, no matter what.

Because of this, ignorant people – most of whom do not understand science – deny that climate change is an issue.

According to a search done in 2013 by National Geographic, 97% of papers written on climate change agree that it is real. Ninety-freaking-seven percent! That’s more than double our president’s approval rating.

And yet, people some don’t believe that climate change exists. Why?

The deniers are louder. They can pass bills that ignore the enviroment, sway votes powerfully, and speak on the news. Scientists don’t do such a thing because they are unable to say that Climate change is 100%.

It’s only 97%.

And climate change is just a theory, right?

Joseph Mallin, an environmental science teacher at Mayfield High School, said, “My biggest pet peeve is that people should understand the difference between scientific theory and the everyday use of theory.”

Deniers think that a theory is just a guess, but it isn’t. A theory is a hypothesis that has been tested over and over again by countless scientists around the world. Gravity in itself is a theory.

A big issue that we face is the fact that people don’t think climate change will affect them, so they don’t care. They claim they have better things to worry about, more important problems that need solving.

So, how will this affect us, in North East Ohio?

Americans like to commit this thing called “Tragedy of the Commons.” That is an event that occurs when people think about short term gain over prolonged survival and the future generations. It is spurred on by greed and immediate prosperity.

Tragedy of the Commons can, and will, occur here in Cleveland because of the Great Lakes. We take these five, beautiful, fresh-water lakes for granted.

The land around this fresh water reserve will soon become prime real estate, simply because it is fresh water.

According to National Geographic, 70% of the Earth is water, but only 1% of that water is fresh, drinkable and easily accessable. The Great Lakes provides the majority of that water, being the largest fresh water reserve in the whole world.

The ice in Greenland melting is also mostly fresh water, but due to it melting into the sea, it is no longer drinkable.

This only makes the Great Lakes more important, but we run the risk of ruining them.

Factories all around the Great Lakes are dumping chemicals into the soil and smog into the air. In downtown Cleveland, one can find multiple factories that are pouring smoke into the atmosphere. Our fresh water is becomming polluted little by little, and soon, it won’t be drinkable.

We can do something to fix this problem we have created. We can reduce how many fossil fuels we use daily, we can pay attention to what we buy, we can watch what we eat.

We need to reverse this problem before it destroys everything we know.