Braedan Lukens

                     Global warming is the long-term warming of the planet’s overall temperature, and its pace has increased in the past century. According to National Geographic, global warming is caused by the “greenhouse gas effect”, which is when the sun’s rays penetrate the atmosphere, but when the heat is reflected off the surface it cannot escape back into space. The gases produced from human activity by burning fossil fuels prevent the heat from leaving the atmosphere.

            The gases produced by industrialized countries is the main contribution to climate change. According to the United Nations, 100 billion dollars is the recommended contribution to help towards reversing climate change. Currently under the Biden Administration,  the budget to combat global warming is 45 billion dollars. Despite the fact that according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, in recent years the United States accounts for 27% of fossil fuel emissions, almost doubling from the statistic in 2014.

            According to an analysis in 2021 conducted by Center for American Progress, there are 139 elected officials in the 117th Congress, including 109 representatives and 30 senators, who refuse to acknowledge the scientific evidence of human-caused climate change.  All of these government officials have received 61 million dollars in contributions from coal, oil, and gas industries. 

            Since the United States has a democratic government, Americans have the right to vote and voice their opinions on certain topics. However only through a party that represents their wants, and at the same time heavily influences their opinions. According to studies by Pew Research Center,  republicans think of global warming as a low priority problem, but at the same time express deep concern on the issue.

            As the issue of climate change progresses, lack of knowledge or blatant denial of global warming contribute to the issues being caused such as ice melting, temperatures rising, and weather changing. According to National Geographic: glaciers in Montana’s Glacier National Park have decreased from  150 in 1910 to less than 30, melting ice contributes to the yearly sea level increase of 0.13 inches, and some areas have experienced increase of precipitation, while others suffer from drought.

            Global warming was identified in 1938, being called “The Callendar Effect”, by Guy Callendar who discovered that the temperatures have risen over the years and correlated the effects of CO2, a common gas that has continuously been used in excess in industrialized nations.                                                                                                                    

            Denial of global warming the past century since its discovery has potentially forsaken humanity because there is virtually no stopping climate change in our society. With several countries being industrialized and dependent on fossil fuels, there may be no way to stop global warming. However, if society would put more effort in using less energy and burning less gas, global warming would slow.