They say climate change isn’t real; that it is just some fake news concocted by scientist to scare the hell out of all of us. However, there could be more evidence suggesting that it is inevitably happening than that we choose to ignore.
After only a few decades, the Earth has changed significantly and it is all attributed to the development of human technology. As we progress to make our lives easier and more convenient, we unavoidably damaged the very environment we live in.
The pictures you are about to see are found in National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) website. They are before and after photos of some famous places showing the significant changes over the last 100 years.
Pedersen Glacier, Alaska. Summer, 1917 — summer, 2005.
Aral Sea, Central Asia. August, 2000 — August, 2014.
Lake Oroville, California. July, 2010 — August, 2016.
Carroll Glacier, Alaska. August, 1906 — September, 2003.
Powell Lake, Arizona and Utah. March, 1999 — May, 2014.
Bear Glacier, Alaska. July, 1909 — August, 2005.
Forests in Rondonia, Brazil. June, 1975 — August, 2009.
McCarty Glacier, Alaska. July, 1909 — August, 2004.
Matterhorn Mountain in the Alps, on the border between Switzerland and Italy. August, 1960 — August, 2005.
Toboggan Glacier, Alaska. June, 1909 — September, 2000.
Qori Kalis Glacier, Peru. July, 1978 — July, 2011.
Mar Chiquita Lake, Argentina. July, 1998. — September, 2011.
Muir Glacier, Alaska. August, 1941 — August, 2004.
Meanwhile, some photos show positive changes brought about by human being’s efforts to make Earth’s condition better.
Uruguay Forests, March, 1975 — February, 2009. Uruguay has managed to grow its forested area from 45,000 hectares to 900,000 hectares.
The Dasht River, Pakistan, August, 1999 — June, 2011. The Mirani Dam supplies clean drinking water and power to the surrounding area. The dam also helps support local agriculture.
Great Man-Made River, Libya, April, 1987 — April, 2010. This is the greatest engineering project in the world: a network of pipes, aqueducts and wells more than 500 metres deep. The water system provides the desert area with water.
Sadly, the negative changes outnumber the positive ones. The melting snow caps and receding ice glaciers are real evidences that the Earth is continuously warming due to the amount of heat-trapping nature of carbon dioxide. Aside from these photos, other indications of global warming are the rise of sea level, the increase in global temperature, the warming ocean, extreme climate events, and ocean acidification.
Although efforts to ‘Save the Planet Earth’ are almost futile due to the rapid decline of the planet’s condition, doing something will always be better than doing nothing at all. Climate change is a global crisis that requires the effort of every single citizen of the world. After all, every little effort when accumulated would make a very significant change.
