This year, the first day of snow in Michigan was November 21st. Other noticeable differences are the temperature; some say they’ve experienced way cooler temperatures around this time in previous years.
Another noticeable difference is the ice on Michigan’s Great Lakes is forming later and melting sooner; this could harm the fish and water life population and also worsen water quality.
Global warming is the long-term heating of the earth. Heating from the sun is natural, however, due to excess Greenhouse gases and an increase in carbon dioxide, the earth is experiencing a gradual increase of earth’s temperature. This will cause long-term temperature changes and shifts in weather.
Jeff Darden, a Science teacher at Grand ledge High school explains the causes of Climate change
“Climate change mainly comes from the problem of burning fossil fuels which puts more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and then traps more heat, so temperatures are going up and it creates a runaway effect,” Darden said.
While global warming can seem like an overwhelming topic, there are things people can do to help the environment overall, such as reducing their carbon footprint. During the holidays, there are multiple ways to reduce waste. Science Department Chair, Courtney. McDonnell shares how you can help lessen the effects of global warming.
“There’s so much, monitoring our own electrical consumption and the use of fossil fuels in our transpiration as well as silly little things like turning off lights or not running the car when it’s just sitting there. Bigger things we can do like biking and walking instead of driving someplace,” McDonnell said.
There are things done daily that also affect climate change.
“Something’s you don’t even consider like how much we consume, and how much we purchase from the stores. That has an effect that we don’t even imagine, like transportation of those goods to the store, and every time we order from Amazon, the more boxes and shipments and the more we are utilizing those services causes more emissions to happen,” McDonnell said.
McDonnell spread awareness on what climate change is.
“As we add more greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere more heat energy is trapped.”
“We are having higher than average temperatures monthly every year,” McDonnell said.
There seems to be a small amount of awareness when it comes to global warming in education. Currently in GLHS, there is no course or elective that focuses on climate change or its effects. Still, McDonnell believes this topic should be a main focus in science courses.
“Climate change is and should be taught. In biology, students look at scientific data, analyze the impacts and predictions of climate change, and learn actionable steps they should take to combat climate change.”
As of now, there is no plan to create an elective science course that focuses exclusively on climate change.
Other places in the United States like Washington DC and Boston have seen temperatures of 80 degrees or more in November. The average temperature for those areas is 30-50 degrees. Overall signs of global warming are starting to be more apparent.
