Climate change is a major issue impacting our natural environment. Overtime it can and will be detrimental. This isn’t a new issue, it’s a crisis that has been covered on various news platforms for years. As a result of this issue being highly discussed in the media, many people know of the topic, not necessarily how it will impact our future. For example, National Geographic published an article in May of 2022 that thoroughly described what climate change is, but after reading the article, the average person may not understand the full severity of the issue. Part of the reason being because many people may feel as though the issue doesn’t personally impact them, because the article discusses the impact of climate change on certain regions. 

The article states “In polar regions, the warming global temperatures associated with climate change have meant ice sheets and glaciers are melting at an accelerated rate from season to season. This contributes to sea levels rising in different regions of the planet.” Typically people feel as though when something doesn’t directly impact them, they simply don’t care. 

As a result of climate change, over time our air quality will decrease, whilst food prices, and sea levels will increase. An increase in food prices alone can have a huge impact on humans, more specifically, the poor and working class. It’s evident that  inflation is currently impacting middle and lower class families. But if the price  of food increases and the cost of living doesn’t, homeless rates can increase as well. 

There are many resources that inform people on what they can do to better our planet. Such as using less plastics and long-lasting light bulbs, buying reusable products and containers. Also, some governmental resources recommended planting trees to produce more oxygen and food. 

A large majority of us have to rely on our parents and other adults to make wise decisions, which is what many people, including professionals, fail to realize. Millions of people in the U.S alone are incapable of doing those things based on their age. Despite the fact that around 50 percent of teens within 10 different countries are suffering with eco- anxiety. Unfortunately, we are left to rely on adults to make the decisions for us. Because at the end of the day, there’s not much we can do. Based on my observations in comparison to former generations, generation z seems to care the most about this global crisis. This is beneficial to an extent. But a large portion of gen Z isn’t  old enough to do much about it, don’t have the power to make decisions in our home; and many of us aren’t even of the legal age to vote. 

As previously mentioned, the issue is that many older generations don’t care about climate change. Presumably,  because realistically speaking, many of them won’t live to see the major impacts. But we will. 

Many teens continue to be frustrated and anxious about the lives we may soon have to live because of the ignorant behavior of adults. This is clearly shown in the speech given by Greta Thunburg, an infamous environmental activist, at the age of 16 to the United Nations in 2019. In this speech you can hear the hurt and frustration in her voice. With passion and frustration she states “you are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations see upon you…” this beautifully sums up the thoughts of millions of teens across the globe. 

As teens and young adults we are encouraged to be the change we need to see for our future, but at this rate we may not have one. Right now all we can do as teens is attempt to spread awareness of the issues but at the end of the day there isn’t much else we can do right now. For some of us it may be years until we are of the age to make decisions that could benefit ourselves and our environment. By then it may be too late. So we urge our elders and superiors to acknowledge these issues, and use their resources and make decisions that will help create a safe environment for future generations.