We are Now Seeing the Effects of Global Warming

On January 15, 2022, the eruption of the underwater Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano in the Southern Pacific Ocean is another example of the extreme unnatural changes in the climate. The large effects of global warming, sped up by the human race’s actions, continue to reveal themselves to us. As greater examples occur every year, lawmakers in America continue to downplay or even challenge the scientific proof of global warming. 

The underwater volcanic eruption in Hunga Tonga was one that was historically large, as the blast radius of the volcano's eruption is similar to the size of Germany, and could be heard from about 6,000 miles away in Anchorage, Alaska. To put into perspective, the distance of the blast’s sound could be heard double the distance between Florida and Alaska. With the large underwater volcanic eruption, comes tsunami warnings across the East and West coasts in the Pacific, including in Santa Monica, California which is over 5,000 miles away, where up to 4 feet of flooding occurred. Although this may seem very short, if water levels rose about 4 feet higher, all the land on the coasts of the world would be uninhabitable. 

As more examples of the effects of climate change slap American lawmakers in the face, we continue to ignore these wake-up calls. For decades, Republicans have dismissed the notions of climate change, refusing to acknowledge the harsh reality that will affect the young generation and their posterity.  The Green New Deal is a Democrat proposed bill in order to tackle some of the human contributions to Global Warming, including reducing carbon emissions, becoming more energy efficient, and improving public transportation and investing in electric vehicles. Tom Cotton, (R) Senator from Arkansas, and John Barrasso, (R) Senator from Wyoming, have both made multiple false assertions about the Green New Deal, claiming it will lead to gas vehicles being confiscated, livestock will be banned, and any products made from livestock will also be banned including ice cream and cheeseburgers. These claims are nowhere to be found in the actual bill as it does not place any authoritarian limits on food production. 

As increasing examples of the effects of climate change and global warming reveal itselves to humans, the time for American lawmakers to make changes is now. The California wildfires, tsunami warnings, and rising sea levels all affect the working class the hardest as they do not have the available capital to simply move or rebuild their homes. Many politicians will argue that the Green New Deal will be expensive and cost the working class money, through taxes, but in the long-term, this can help our economy by putting more jobs in the renewable energy business and creating new energy efficient products while saving our planet. This will also benefit the working class the most as it will slow the harsh environmental factors we are seeing in today's world, helping them find stability opposed to the fear of losing everything when a wildfire sparks in California, or when sea levels rise making their homes uninhabitable off the coast of Florida, or even when a hurricane like Hurricane Maria takes out your power for a year in Puerto Rico. The essence of human kind has been to overcome nature; this should not be limited to the rich, so by slowing down the effects of global warming, we as America, can help millions of working class people before even more devastating natural disasters begin to ensue.