Current Event: United States

I’m so excited to tell you about my week that I’ve had in the States. I’m currently in California and I just spent a week hiking the Pacific Crest Trial. The full PCT spans from the Mexico border all the way to the Canadian border. This three country trek is a total of 2,650 miles! It takes people anywhere from three months to 5 months to finish. During the hike, you go through 5 major sections, the desert, the Sierras, Northern California, Oregon and Washington. It’s been a dream of mine to hike the entire trail, but I thought it would be a great opportunity to hike a small portion and get a better idea of what trail life is like.

I decided to hike in the Northern California stretch and start in Sierra City. This section of the trail is along the Northern Yuba River and in the lush Tahoe National Forest. I completed a 7 day thru-hike which means 7 full hike days, and 7 nights spent on the trail. Being immersed in nature was such a great experience, but it really got me thinking about the serious issues that are jeopardizing our environment. Climate change is a dangerous problem that has so many side effects that are visible in our environment. It’s important for us to recognize these problems so we can band together and enact change.

Before I talk about the effects global warming is having on our planet, I want to talk about what is causing it in the first place. Scientists accredit the “greenhouse effect” as the main cause of climate change. This is warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth to space. The gases that cause this are called greenhouse gases, and they consist of water vapor, nitrous oxide, methane, and carbon dioxide. Things like burning coal and oil can cause an increase in greenhouse gases.

We are seeing the effects of climate change in so many different ways. One of the main effects is increasing temperature. Our temperature has risen 1.62 degrees since the late 1800s. While one and a half degrees may not seem like that much, it is a drastic number considering how long Earth has been in creation. 2016 was also one of the hottest years to date. As air temperatures rise, so do water’s. It has warmed a little more than 0.4 degrees since 1969.

On top of that, the sea ice and glaciers are melting at a rapid pace. This not only displaces many animals, but it also causes an increase in sea height. For example, experts think our Artic Ocean will be ice free by mid century. It is said that the ocean will rise 1 to 4 feet by 2100. Also, climate change is causing a whirlwind of natural disasters. These include droughts, heat spells, and changes in precipitation patterns.

As you can see, it’s important that we educate ourselves on this topic because it is one of the most important issues we are facing. It effects every living thing on our planet and it is clear we need to make a change.