By Cuinn Huber
While we hear about the climate crisis as a far away threat, a lot of the time the effects of it are happening as we speak. However, due to the lack of media coverage, most people don’t know what is really happening. Nevertheless, the United Nations does. Every seven years, the United Nations releases a report on the ongoing climate crisis we are experiencing around the world. The report found that despite the world having a La Nina, which usually cools the earth temporarily, the year 2020 was still one of the three warmest years on record, while the 2010s decade was the warmest on record. The report also said that we can only emit 400 billion more tons of carbon dioxide before we use up our climate budget and move above a 1.5C warming target. As a planet, we are currently emitting 40 billion tons a year. The arctic will also be free of ice in the summer by 2050, which will cause not only species that live there to parish, but bacteria that could cause another pandemic even worse then Covid-19. This will also cause coastal areas around the world to be at risk of sinking, especially areas like Louisiana which is already losing a football field of land an hour. This is as the UN said “a code red for humanity”. Obviously this is a massive concern and needs to be met with extreme action and even if our leaders won’t do anything, there are things we can all do to slow down warming. We can shop and eat small wherever we can since the top Forbes wealthiest 100 companies account for over 70 percent of emissions. If financially possible, use a smart thermostat, as well as further insulating your home. According to sparefoot.com, insulating your home can cut your AC emissions by up to 15 percent. If that is not possible for you, switching to LED lights reduces your energy consumption for light by about 75 percent. In order for us to minimize the damage we need to do these things and more.