We’ve all heard about the effects of climate change. Politicians rant and rave about it during their debates, and we are warned to recycle in order to make a difference.

I think it is important to pay attention to the environment around us. Although we live in the United States, the changes that are occurring as a result of global climate change aren’t just affecting one side of the world. Unfortunately, nobody can escape the effects that we’ve all caused.

On Saturday, Mississippi experienced some of it’s greatest flooding in more than 200 years. The levels of rain pouring through the state hit all time highs, leaving people wondering where in the world it came from. Water levels over the years have increased by 2.6 inches per year, and it has began to slowly sink some of the land banks connected to major roads.

You could be thinking one disaster in Mississippi is not due to global climate change. But extreme weather is an effect of global climate change. The last two decades have brought some of the most damaging hurricanes, floods, droughts and earthquakes. Disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, the East Africa drought, the Red River flood, the Haiti earthquake and the Thoku earthquake and tsunami have all been some of the most damaging natural disasters in recorded history.

Washington, a state where the normal average for summer weather is around 72 degrees had its hottest summers in more than 150 years. For the last three summers, wildfires have nearly engulfed whole cities and left tons of terror in its wake. The shift in climate change has kept the temperatures near 90 to 100 degrees for most of the summer. The simple increase in temperature is causing more wildfires in the Pacific Northwest. Dry, warm timber can light up easily with minor increases in temperature.

NASA says that carbon              dioxide levels in the atmosphere are the highest in 800,000 years at 398.29 parts per million. It’s time we do something and let people know. This is more than just a person to person or country to country issue. It’s a global issue.

So what can you do? Some people argue recycling and reusing don’t help any. There is research that proves otherwise. Switching to LED lights, eating less meat and riding your bike more makes it possible to decrease our impact on global climate change. If a lot of people make a small change, we will be able to sustain our environment.

The reality is whether we like it or not, this issue encompasses us all. Gandhi once said, “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

If we can stand up and make a change together, the effects of climate change may not be as bad for the next generations. I encourage you to look at the effects and ask yourself if you can spare a couple changes.

Amina Chinnell is a staff writer for The Dakota Student She can be reached at [email protected]