Constant headlines of rising food prices, extreme natural disasters, and health pandemics define the news we see on the technology right in front of our faces. Yet, somehow, climate change remains as one of the most overlooked issues we face. Through the human perspective of time, climate change is a gradual issue — one that is only seen impacting the polar bears and icebergs.
However, the truth is that the widespread impacts of climate change are already facing us. More and more extreme weather events, which plague news channels, like droughts in rainy places and rain in dry climates and destructive wildfires spreading further each year. But why don’t we notice? Because it’s subtle to someone who isn’t looking for it, and until someone starts to focus on the future slowly deteriorating, it continues to go unnoticed.
Additionally, people overlook climate change because there’s simply misinformation, or even a lack of information, concerning the matter. Many people hold beliefs which take the blame away from human decisions, placing it on something entirely out of our control. Others are unaware of the statistics of severity; according to the Guardian, “The United States – the world’s largest economy and its second largest carbon polluter.” Due to these gaps in informational accuracy and uneducated mindsets, it only worsens the way climate change is overlooked.
In the final analysis, climate change isn’t a distant or minor issue scientists and environmental activists exaggerate, but a threat to ecosystems, weather, and the overall health of Earth. Until more people recognize its urgency in their own lives, and recognize that action starts with understanding, we’ll continue to underestimate it. As Greta Thunberg, a climate activist, says, “I don’t want your hope. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day.” The planet’s downfall does not depend on itself, but the collective human decision to change habits and act in a way which protects our future, rather than jeopardizing it.