Dear Next President,

My name is Curtis Clark III, the issue I will be addressing today is of the utmost importance. As time goes on climate change is becoming a real and more apparent threat. The hottest fifteen years ever recorded have occurred in the last eighteen years. Rising atmospheric and ocean temperatures are resulting in stronger hurricanes, and the bleaching of coral reefs (http://oceanservice.noaa.gov). It’s too wet on the east coast, too dry on the west coast, and polar bears are swimming instead of walking on ice! These are signs of the apocalypse, and to not read the writing on the wall is just morally and logically unjustifiable. To not take action as soon as possible is a disservice to the people you swore to protect. Changing climate is one of the biggest problems Americans, and the rest of the world is currently facing; something must be done.

As stated before, temperature on Earth is on a steep incline. The previous decade is the hottest ever recorded. If we keep releasing greenhouse gases at the rate we currently do, by 2100 average global temperatures could potentially rise 12° F (https://www3.epa.gov)! As the Earth’s temperature rises life on this planet will faces many challenges and, will have to adapt in many different ways. One of these problems are coastal cities, and how much they’re at risk because of rising sea levels. This could result in many low lying areas going underwater. For example, the Everglades in southern Florida are home to many different animal species, and is one of the most diverse animal habitats in the continental United States; however, if sea levels continue to rise at current rates (some predictions conclude), south Florida could be underwater by 2025, and the Everglades will be lost. Several residential communities, some with populations in the 100,000’s, will be destroyed as well (https://www3.epa.gov).

Some might think humans are not the main cause of climate change. To them, I say, talk to 99% of climate scientists. In 2013, the John Cook review with 11,900+ peer reviews on climate change, only 78 (0.7%) rejected the notion that humans were the cause of climate change (http://iopscience). Another climate scientist, James L. Powell, conducted a different study, a peer review of 13,900+ articles ranging from 1991 until November of 2012 (relevant to “global climate change” and “global warming”) (http://www.jamespowell.org/bio.html) With this kind of overwhelming scientific evidence, and consensus among those in the extremely rigorous scientific community, I don’t know how someone could come to the conclusion that climate change is “just made up” or not caused by people, when so many people who’ve devoted their life to studying climate and its patterns are saying the opposite.

In all, I think it is very clear-cut what humans are doing to the Earth, and for anyone to sit back (especially someone in your position, with your influence and power) and let allow us to ravage the planet is a part of the problem. If you are the president come 2017, if you don’t view climate change a priority issue, you're letting the human race slowly chip away at the chances of your descendants having the privilege to live on an environmentally sustainable world.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Citizen

Works Cited

Cook, John, and Kevin Cowtan. "Reply to Comment on ‘Quantifying the Consensus on Anthropogenic Global Warming in the Scientific Literature’." Environmental Research Letters 10.3 (2015): 039002. Print.

"Higher Temperatures." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

"What Is Coral Bleaching?" US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

cbsmiami. "Predictions Put Some Of South Florida Under Water by 2025." CBS Miami. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.