Decades ago, the topic of global warming lacked attention regarding basic research, funding, and societal interest. Today, the issue is increasingly gaining more awareness, as its impacts on our environment are becoming more prominent through sea-level rise, disastrous storms, increased drought, and even loss of species worldwide. 

This world renowned debate first took place in the late 1980s, where the issue was perceived as something that wouldn’t impact us for generations. Well, that day has come, and its effects on us as humans are evident in these strangely warmer temperatures, rapid weather changes, and especially poverty and displacement. 

Climate change refers to the long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns where human activity is one of its leading causes, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like oil, coal, and gas. According to the United Nations, burning fossil fuels generates the “greenhouse effect,” meaning that the gas emissions  released into the atmosphere serve as a “blanket” that wraps around earth, trapping the sun’s heat. 

One of the main sources of these gas emissions is driving a non-electric car. Since it would be impossible to drive without the use of gasoline, our cars are constantly polluting the atmosphere with harmful chemicals to our health, as well as greenhouse gasses – the main driver of climate change. 

Although driving cars isn’t the only fossil fuel-producing activity humans are responsible for, as the burning of them is practically vital to our present way of life. This can be seen through something as simple as transportation, to generating electricity, manufacturing goods, deforestation, and producing food. 

Indeed, it is something of necessity to keep our system of survival rolling. But it won’t really matter when our planet has reached its limits in the next decade or so, leading to a “point of no return” between the years 2025 and 2090 according to the Scientists for Global Responsibility.

The general impacts on humans mostly concern our health and how much more the earth can take. But as the earth is increasingly warming, the often ignored ocean is as well, causing sea levels to rise. For some, this can force lower-income families to move and possibly put them into poverty. 

According to the World Economic Forum, those who attain below average income are especially susceptible to hunger, water scarcity, a downturn in education, and forced displacement. With less water fueling agricultural activity, production prices will increase, urging families to pull their children out of school to save money. 

For our Washington region, our main concerns surround things like increased drought, wildfires, and especially air pollutants. 

Because we have warmer, shorter (but more intense) rain events now compared to those in the past, more precipitation is falling as rain rather than snow in the mountains, causing our snowpack to decrease. 

Woody Moses, who’s been teaching marine science and biology at Highline for 20 years, says that our snowpack here in the Pacific Northwest is critical to our water supply due to our extremely dry summers. 

The snow in the mountains would usually melt during summer, providing water for irrigation, agriculture and “hydro-eletric power,” such as dams, said Moses. But as our snowpack decreases, our summers become even drier, meaning we see things like wildfires and strains on agriculture – overall less water. 

While most of us live in or around the most traffic congested city of Seattle, there is never a point where vehicles aren’t roaming Pac Highway or I-5, constantly filling the atmosphere with greenhouse gasses. 

Not to mention SeaTac Airport, where communities in and around that area are especially susceptible to a “unique signature” of aircraft pollutants, says UW professor Edmond Seto in a recent study. 

The unique signature being higher proportions of “ultra-ultrafine” particles that have greater chances of being inhaled and penetrating the body, putting those at risk of breast cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease, and a number of lung conditions.

According to Moses, because SeaTac Airport is such a massive polluter, life expectancy around SeaTac is lower than other parts of King County because of its critical use of fossil fuels. 

Based on the federal government’s 2023 climate assessment, the Seattle Times indicated that in just decades to come, temperatures will continue to rise, our food sources and regional economies will become threatened, and some species will die off, disrupting the food chain while each of these consequences will spread out unevenly among Washington. 

While climate change is inevitable and continuously shifting, it can be slowed, and we as humans have the ability to assist in that through multiple ways.

Since much of our electricity is powered by the burning of fossil fuels, you might opt out your light bulbs for LEDs, wash your laundry in cold water, or even replace your gas furnace with an electric heat pump, which is said to reduce your carbon footprint up to 900 kg of carbon dioxide per year, according to the United Nations. 

You might also consider recycling, repairing and reusing many of the appliances you purchase for daily use. According to the United Nations, electronic devices, clothes, and other items made of plastics cause carbon emissions at each point in production. So, before you take yourself on a shopping spree, try to aim for second-hand clothing, buy fewer things, or repair what you have already. 

Eating more fruits and vegetables can also help lower your environmental impact. Producing plant-based foods generally takes less fossil fuels in the making, and it doesn’t require an immense use of energy, land and water. Shifting your diet towards eating more food grown from the earth can reduce your carbon footprint up to 500 kg of carbon dioxide per year. 

It may not seem like considering your home’s source of energy, your diet, or the ways in which you purchase and use certain items makes a major difference in slowing down climate change. What counts is that you’re taking action, so don’t be afraid to speak up and let others know that they, too, can participate in making a difference.