"Climate" Reflective Response

“One area of great concern in the cryosphere, Earth’s ice and snow cover, is the melting of both polar ice and glacial ice. It is believed that sometime this century the Arctic Ocean will be entirely free of ice during the summer for the first time in a million years.” (Robertson, 2017, p. 75.)

This quote actually brought me to tears, as I’ve been following the polar ice caps melting for some time. I’m a huge lover of polar bears, so I’ve been staying updated to keep track of how the species is fairing—not well. They’re currently on the vulnerable list for endangered species and it’s strongly due to the ice caps and glacial ice melting. They’re dying in record numbers.

With emissions continuously rising, it’s estimated that our polar ice caps will be fully gone by the year 2040. That’s less than 18 years away. The damage that is happening is going to happen within our lifetime, regardless of what some people may think. It’s already happening. Important species are dying off. Coastline waters are rising dramatically, bringing about a threat for flooding in coastal communities. Polar vortex and heat waves are causing damage to crops and global food systems.

All I have to say about my carbon footprint is yikes. I don’t feel like I do anything too out of the ordinary? But it just goes to show that we all have to be more mindful of this. It’s definitely not something I’ve thought about too much, but it does play a large factor in things, and I do feel pretty awful about the part I’m playing in the issue regarding climate change and global warming.

Reference:

Robertson, M. (2017). Sustainability Principles and practice. Routledge.

*If you click the photos above, it should directly take you to the place where the photos were from. But, if that doesn't work, here are my photo references*

Photo 1: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/the-polar-bear-photo-seen-around-the-world/

Photo 2: https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/55-polar-bears-finally-make-the-endangered-species-list

Photo 3: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/polar-bear-starving-arctic-sea-ice-melt-climate-change-spd

Photo 4: https://www.sciencealert.com/climate-change-is-set-to-starve-polar-bears-to-extinction-by-2100

Photo 5: https://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/six-ways-loss-of-arctic-ice-impacts-everyone#:~:text=Polar%20ice%20caps%20are%20melting,declined%20by%20a%20stunning%2095%25.