NOT ALL CHANGE IS GOOD: THE GROWING ISSUE OF CLIMATE CHANGE

“Climate change is a long-term issue. Strategies will need to be adjusted as we go along.” This was the conclusion of a statement made by Dr. James E. Hansen, who was then head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, before the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the U.S Senate. 

It's been over two decades since that first testimony was made, making it the first official day on which climate change became a national issue. Climate change has been around even before the existence of Gen Z, but this doesn’t take away from the clear impact we are seeing now. Pollution is not a problem of big regional cities anymore; now, even the smallest rural areas are being affected by climate change. A study done at George Mason University by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication in the year 2025 showed that,

“By a 2 to 1 margin, more Americans think global warming is mostly human-caused (59%) than mostly caused by natural changes in the environment (27%).”

Therefore, climate change is a responsibility that lays in the hands of the State, not only the individuals. Things like nitrate pollution in Iowa come from complete disregard and no consideration from companies that cause the damages from chemicals like multiple "fertilizers and pesticides that farmers use [that]leave nitrogen and phosphorus in their fields.”

How can we make a difference in fighting against climate change if we don’t know what it is? Graphic by Rebeca Rojas Afanador.

Weather conditions over time have become more and more unpredictable. Climate phenomena like El Niño have become a normalized announcement since the last half of the 20th century. There was an announcement this year about this phenomenon, that warns of extreme weather which will raise the average surface temperature in parts of the Pacific Ocean, resulting in unseasonable temperature rises and declines in native fauna. The World Meteorological Organization’s risks of extreme weather in 2026 were of 100% likelihood of persisting until 2027. This means that extreme weather occurrences are more likely to happen. Other than basic common sense knowledge, like not producing as much CO2, something I would recommend would be preparation for these types of disasters.

Ultimately, the horrifying earthquakes all over the world are just a pattern and a warning to let us know that we, in fact, do not have control over the earth; that’s why we need to preserve it, whether it is reducing the use of AI or demanding preventive measures from both the government and big tech companies.