As a society we have accepted that global warming is not just a concept, it is a reality. Earth’s average surface temperature has risen around 2.5 degrees since the 19th century according to Climate.gov. The main cause of global warming is human activity. The 5 most common effects of global warming are dirtier air, loss of our ice caps, and more intense heat waves.

Since the 1900s ice caps have gotten thinner, smaller, and the sea ice is also melting. If these ice caps melted completely, the sea level would rise around 70 meters it states on USGS. Coastal cities would completely cease to exist, and would be covered by ocean water. Islands would be gone and the overall land area would decrease.

The effect on humans is real too. The extreme heat can have a huge impact on those with asthma and preterm births. It will also cause wildfires to be more regular. These fires will cause our air to be even worse. It is all a huge cycle. There are many things that we could do to help. We could switch to electric cars, walk or bike when possible, and invest in solar panels. Until we admit that global warming is a huge problem, nothing will change. It will just keep getting worse.