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The Importance Of Climate Change

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To me, climate change is one of the most pressing issues we face today. That is why I emailed Representative Kionne L. McGhee, about his view on climate change. I believe a focus on preventing climate change, is crucial to the well-being of every living thing on the planet. However, I understand that climate might be one of the most crucial problems affecting the planet, it is also one of the most hardest to fix. It is a highly controversial issue because people either believe it is a crucial issue needing to be fixed now or believes it does not even exist, at least to the extent scientists say it is. However, I personally believe climate change is an issue that needs worldwide cooperation.
Climate change effects the planet on many different levels. However, the focus when it comes to climate change prevention, is preventing a two-degree Celsius temperature increase. Richard Kerr, author of How Urgent Is Climate Change stated, “Humans are messing with climate and will, eventually, get burned if they keep it up” (1230). This implies the severity of climate change. Climate change will cause irreversible damage to the planet and the it’s ecosystem. The current focus of world is to prevent a two-degree Celsius temperature increase. This has been reported as the point of no return. This means that if we ever reach this point, it would be difficult to recover from the damages that climate change would cause. Alley states “If you want to be able to head off a few trillions of [dollars of climate] damages per year a few decades out, you need to start now" (qtd. in Kerr 1230). If we ever reach the two degree Celsius temperature increase, we might be at the point of no return.
Even though we have been predicted to be on a two-degree Celsius temperature increase, the planet increasing by only two degrees might sound like a very small number to worry about. However, Seager, of Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, states” Don't underestimate the impact of just one extra degree, it may be all you need to exceed some threshold, such as the temperature at which railway tracks buckle” (qtd. In Raloff 25). This means any temperature increase is dangerous to our planet. The temperature increases we are

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