Happening Right Now - by Reina Stamm

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Reina Stamm at Pima Community College

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The climate crisis is happening right now in front of our eyes. Change must happen now. Change is possible. We are all in this together, and the climate crisis is an opportunity for change. We can make this a safe and sustainable world. Can we work together to solve this crisis? The clock is ticking. The United Nations, in their video "Urgent Solutions for Urgent Times," devoted a chapter to the climate crisis and the need for action.

Chapter One stood out to me when watching this video. Chapter one discussed the climate and the planet. Climate change is a significant issue, and this video truly brought it to my attention. Throughout this chapter, they mentioned several issues that need to be resolved and resolved soon. Most people have either been affected by climate change or know someone that has been affected. This video was created to inform and motivate viewers to start the change. To establish credibility, you must provide proof, and this video did just that. For every natural disaster, they provided videos showing the devastation that comes with natural disasters. This does not only include the planet, but the stress it causes to humans and animals.

Fear appeal played a large part in this chapter. And it is an effective way to get people to take action. Viewers are more likely to act sooner if they are exposed to the repercussions of not taking action. When I watched this video, my heart dropped. It made me feel that we all need to do everything we can to help our planet. Editing was crucial to making this video spread awareness. The footage in this chapter played a massive part in understanding this chapter. For example, watching a video of a young woman evacuating from a fire and putting out a fire in her yard, then continuing to drive through the heavy smoke. That crushed me. I cannot imagine being in that situation, and I hope I will never run into that situation.

I will share a few jarring moments from this chapter that brought climate change to my attention. First, a fact discussed in this video talked about how one football stadium's worth of rainforest is destroyed every six seconds. By 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. And about 1 million animal species are on the brink of extinction. This is sad, and we cannot continue treating our planet like this.

A couple of charts were shown in this video, which put into perspective how climate change is getting worse each year. One chart showed the temperature rise from 1880-2020. There was a major increase. The second chart showed the global co2 emissions from fossil fuels from 1960-2019, yet another significant addition. The main driver for c02 pollution is burning fossil fuels. What we do in the next 8-10 years determines how the next 100-200 years will go.

A phrase that had been repeated multiple times was that climate change needed attention. A significant point in this video was talking about bringing awareness to climate change and how we can help. In a few clips within this chapter, there were marches to get attention to climate change. This is a big step to take and brings me to the next part of the discussion.

On the 25th of September in 2015, all United Nations member states signed up for the sustainable development goals. These are solutions to the most significant problems the world faces. Near the end of this chapter, the narrator discussed what plans the United Nations Global Solutions Act had. These include reducing global emissions by half by 2030, stopping subsidizing fossil fuels, taxing carbon, not people, providing more green jobs, preventing deforestation, respecting and protecting the planet, consuming responsibly, and farming sustainably. These stood out to me. Change is purely man-made, and we must team together to tackle climate change. This information is accurate as it is listed on the United Nations website.

Climate change dramatically affects humans just as much as it involves animals. During the Australian wildfires, nearly 3 billion animals were killed or displaced. A clip showed humans and horses finding shelter on a beach to avoid wildfires. This extreme weather displaces 20 million people (about the population of New York) annually. It is a significant issue whether it is a hurricane, wildfire, flood, or bug swarm. This last decade was the hottest on record. In December 2019, Australia recorded temperatures above 47 degrees Celsius, which is 117 degrees Fahrenheit.

Climate change is an emergency and needs attention. During the Covid lockdown, the planet started healing when residents were stuck in isolation. The Himalayas were becoming visible again, Venice canals were clear again, and dolphins had returned across Italy. This information shows that change is possible. We can save this planet before the damage becomes irreversible. Can we work together to solve this crisis? I guess we will find out.