I can’t even count the amount of times on my fingers I have looked outside and dreadfully said, “It’s snowing.”
We all appreciated the snow days and missing class, but we are all kind of over it now. Not only are we completely done with the snow, if we think a little deeper, shouldn’t we be worried?
Although we are experiencing “global warming” here on campus, we have also been experiencing our fair share of cold weather.
A common misconception about climate change is that it only causes warm weather, which then causes tropical storms, hurricanes and polar ice caps melting; however, the New Jersey and Pennsylvania area have yet to see spring.
“Global warming can lead to extreme weather in various portions of northern and mid latitudes so that some places get tons of snow repeatedly while others are unseasonably warm,” the Union of Concerned Scientists reported.
“It was fun in the beginning. I enjoyed the days off, but now it is just in the way of getting the semester over with,” Asha Jackson, sophomore human resource major, said.
Does mother nature hate us?
A more accurate statement would actually be: Do we hate mother nature?
We as humans are constantly filling the ozone layer with greenhouse gases and polluting our limited amount of drinking water. This contributed to climate change and is correlated with in the second Nor’easter we had on campus, onthe first day of spring.
“Something is definitely going on in the environment if it’s snowing on the first day of spring. It’s just inconvenient now,” John Volz, sophomore business management major, said. “I had a review for my test on the day classes were cancelled. Thankfully, my teacher rescheduled.”
The general consensus is that the snow is annoying and it is becoming more of an inconvenience than a fun day off from classes.
According to the NY Times, the majority of Americans know climate change is happening and feel it harms people, but most do not think it will negatively effect them on a personal level.
Well, at least we can come together and decide that the weather is annoying and agree we want to see flowers blooming; however, we haven’t yet come together to decide to start doing something to combat the effects of climate change.
According to a study done by Colombia University and Maple Croft, “Haiti was recently ranked as the most vulnerable country in the world to climate change. Already prone to a wide array of environmental stressors flooding, droughts, hurricanes, earthquakes and landslides.”
Being a Haitian American and hearing stories of how beautiful this country is from my grandmother, I worry about how climate change will affect my grandmother and mothers home. If our world continues on the same track, will I ever be able to visit the place a large portion of the place my family calls home?
We are all guilty of only paying attention to what is happening right in front of us, but now climate change has reached us also. It may not be to the same degree as other countries, but it has still reached America.
We have our fun in the snow and then become upset on the third or fourth snow day, while in less-developed countries they have been feeling the effects of climate change for far longer and in far worse ways. We should feel privileged to only miss a review or worry about commuting, because across the world, outside of our American bubble, people are losing their lives.
