Human impact on climate change has rapidly increased over the past few decades. There has been a global push for the wider distribution of electric cars, solar panels, wind turbines, hydroelectric dams and other forms of renewable energy.
A goal to maintain and reduce carbon emissions was outlined by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Pollution levels have increased around the world despite recent environmental global policies, according to npj Climate and Atmospheric Science Journal.
Not many people are aware of their impact on climate change due to a lack of education and the rapid spread of disinformation from some nonprofits and news sites funded by oil companies, climate change deniers and fossil fuel lobbyists, according to Science Direct.
However, what do Salisbury University students understand about the ongoing climate crisis?
Sophomore Nicole Walls was concerned “there [are] more hurricanes every year” and other forms of severe weather.
Scientists agree human-caused global warming has “caused atmospheric circulation changes beneficial to tropical cyclone formation,” according to Yale Climate Connections.
Sophomore Kaylee O’Brien proposed a unique marketing approach to raise awareness for climate change.
O’Brien said, “we should have billboards and road [advertisements] on major highways like US-50 that portray the catastrophic effects of climate change on the Eastern Shore [of Maryland].”
However, billboards will not be enough for SU to do its part in mitigating the human impacts on climate change.
I believe the SU community should practice more composting and recycling programs on campus, divest the university from the fossil fuel industry, rely on 100% renewable energy and become a zero-waste campus.
SU can work towards these goals by eliminating straws from all campus dining locations and replacing them with strawless cup covers.
These radical solutions could prove difficult to implement. However, radical change must occur to decrease pollution and the impact of climate change.
By JACOB GOODMAN
Staff writer
Featured image courtesy of Julie Mace