Pull-out: We must demand that our political leaders create legislation that will lessen the emissions of harmful gasses in cars and factories.

The words “global warming” can be misleading, especially during winter in Wisconsin. Nothing about an 8 a.m. walk to school will show evidence of any “warming.” Frozen mucus and salt-entrenched shoes are hardly signs of change in our earth’s temperature, especially towards a sense of warmness.

A more proper term to use would be “global climate change” because essentially, that’s what it is. Not every spot on earth is becoming warmer due to global climate change; in fact, some places are getting cooler.

But overall, on average the earth is warming up. You can see the evidence when one of the major stories on the evening news is about how polar bears are losing safe areas to live because their homes are melting.

According to the Associated Press, more polar bears are giving birth on land rather than ice on the sea; this is because there is less of it out there.

Another set of stories that indicate global climate change is heading our way are the many ice shelves breaking away and floating out into sea. One such ice shelf, the Ayles shelf in the Canadian arctic, broke away from land in August of 2005. This shelf, which was once five times the size of London, England, was one of six major ice shelves in Canada. Last week, the ice shelf ceased floating and collapsed within the sea.

It is only a matter of time before global climate change will begin to affect our lives. Coastal cities can expect to see their homes, jobs, schools, churches — you name it — underwater. Cities inland can expect a wave of refugees. Some cities may not be able to handle the burden. Homelessness will go up, disease will become rampant and millions will die as a result of our careless practice of emitting harmful gases into our atmosphere.

We must demand accountability, not only as Americans, but as humans as well. This isn’t an issue that politicians can leave to argument and debate; there must be consensus on the issue.

We must demand that our political leaders create legislation that will lessen the emissions of harmful gasses in cars and factories. We also need other countries to do the same.

One argument against doing so will be the economic effects of fighting global climate change. If we are to create these caps in emissions, so the argument goes, we would be limiting capitalistic ventures that are necessary for innovation, as well as hurting the consumer by adding additional costs that companies may place on the price tags of certain products.

These arguments are nothing, however, compared to the economic losses we will suffer if we do nothing to stop or slow global climate change. In addition, there will be insurmountable losses of life and resources if ice caps continue to melt and raise our ocean levels.

We have a responsibility, as the sole global hegemony, to lead the world in the fight against our own destruction. We cannot foresee what will happen, but when it comes to the annihilation of our own species, we cannot underestimate the value of our actions. We must fight to save our planet and ourselves.

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