Dear Future president,

Everybody lives on the earth. Human, animals, plants, bacteria, you name it. However, there is a problem plaguing our planet that could cause its end. Climate change. As a resident of this planet, this problem concerns me. What concerns me even more is that fact that a lot of people don’t believe this problem is occurring. Even members of my own family refuse to believe it. This problem can have devastating effects and people need to know the truth.

Climate change is a real issue and has potential to harm us. There are many things it is capable of, but one of the main things it affects is the weather. One particularly intense thing it can create are tropical cyclones. According to the EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency), the tropical storm activity in several major places, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean and Atlantic oceans have seen an increase in the amount of tropical storm activity in the past 20 years. Not just that, but they’re becoming more intense storms in the Atlantic ranging from category 4 to 5 according to NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration). This category of hurricane is particularly devastating. It can take lives as well as homes and property. Hurricanes are just one of the many effects of climate change.

It’s not just the hurricanes that climate change can have an effect on however. This problem also gives way to rising sea levels, droughts, and the melting of the ice caps. These are major problems for the world for different reasons. Polar ice caps melting will lead to a rise in the ocean’s water level. Eventually, this will lead to the permanent flooding on our coastlines. On the other hand, while some places will experience more water, others will experience less. According to NASA, heatwaves are expected to become more intense and last longer. Summer will also continue to become hotter and periods of cold weather or “coldwaves” become shorter and less cool. Weather will change for the worse.

Many people argue that the climate has changed before, therefore climate change is not that big of an issue today. However, this is not true. Climate has always reacted to the amounts of greenhouse gases that are in the atmosphere. So yes, the climate has changed before, but for the same reason it is changing now. Carbon dioxide and methane emissions are on the rise and reacting violently with our climate. Since the climate responds to the amount of CO2 in the air, we are responsible for the changing of our earth’s climate. It will continue unless we do something about it.

Not all hope is lost however. There are measures we can take to slow and prevent this problem from becoming worse. You can help prevent climate change by starting at home. Buying energy efficient light bulbs is a good starting point. Recycling, insulating your home, and reducing water waste are also great ways to help. But arguably one of the most important ways to stop this is by spreading the word. The more people that know, the more people working to put a stop to climate change.

“Climate change is happening, humans are causing it, and I think this is perhaps the most serious environmental issue facing us.” Bill Nye said. And it’s true. Are we going to sit around and let our planet suffer or are we going to do something about it? We need to act now, or we will suffer the consequences for years to come.