Turning on the news these days is daunting. Waking up to see social media and news headlines telling of yet another tragedy or natural disaster. Videos of people losing their homes and loved ones seem to fill timelines weekly. From severe wildfires and heat waves to sudden flash floods, the climate crisis has begun making its presence known more and more in the past few years. This apocalyptic weather may seem independent of current weather and climate patterns, but it is not going away anytime soon. 

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), there are many environmental reasons behind the severity of these natural disasters. Temperatures exponentially rising across the globe brings not only the risk of extreme droughts and forest fires, but also the threat of water evaporating into the atmosphere which increases the intensity of rapidly forming mega storms. This has been a serious issue for the U.S. and will only continue to be one moving forward. This is quite evident when looking at the recent catastrophes that unfolded this summer not only here in St. Louis, but also in Texas and Kentucky, where many people lost their lives due to extreme flash flooding and severe storms. 2020 and 2021 were recorded as some of the worst years in terms of climatic events, with 97 natural disasters taking place in 2021, and 2020 breaking records with 22 separate billion-dollar climate tragedies occurring across the country. These trends are not random, and the longer society continues to deny and demean the clear threats of climate change, the more these severe weather events will continue to become detrimental to humankind. 

It is an understatement to say that the U.S. government and other governing bodies around the world have not taken adequate action to fight the effects of climate change, but with the recent passing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), things may be beginning to move in the right direction. This bill includes a considerable climate package that “invests $369 billion in energy, climate, and justice over 20 years,” according to the Natural Resources and Defense Council. With this much funding being put forth to help stop the effects of climate change and create new conservation methods, there is still hope for the environment and for the future of our planet. While this is definitely good news, there are still many people and leaders who do not see the dire importance of addressing the current climate crisis. The IRA was a huge step in the right direction for climate policy in the U.S., but the opposition it faced in congress by right-wing science deniers still landed a large blow to what could have been the potential for even more funding and legislative action. With this reckless ignorance comes a lack of action and a loss of momentum towards a greener tomorrow. 

 For years, researchers have been saying if our atmosphere warms more than 1.5 degrees Celsius then we have passed the turning point of preventing climatic catastrophe. At our current rate of emissions, society is scheduled to pass this mark within the next 10 years. While this is more than concerning for many economically well-developed countries, it is even grimmer for poorer countries that will be disproportionately affected due to their lack of natural disaster infrastructure, such as seawalls and storm barriers. This should be further reason to pass legislation and help fight climate change because our actions, or rather lack thereof, not only put Americans at risk, but the entire world. 

Looking to the future, scientists are warning of a warmer atmosphere, increased temperatures and acidity in our oceans, rising sea levels, and continued drastic changes to current weather patterns. These are just the guaranteed effects of climate change. There is so much uncertainty surrounding the future of the climate crisis. Even looking back at other periods of time in Earth’s history where there were similar climatic shifts occurring, because there were no man-made fossil fuels or extreme synthetic factors contributing to the situation, there is no way for scientists and historians to accurately predict what is to come. Moving forward, it is so important that our elected officials be willing to fight for environmental funding and packages, like the IRA, that are going to help push the U.S. in a more environmentally conservative direction. This is our responsibility. If we are unable to bring about change to our current climate negligence, then we will only continue to see these drastic and fatal effects day after day and week after week. If we don’t change now, news headlines will not only become graver, but they will also become more  familiar as your own towns and loved ones are the ones being subjected to the horrors of climate change.