A Race Against Time to Save Our Planet

 By Taylor Gaspar   

JRN100 Staff Writer

Timothy Green, born and currently still living in Easton Massachusetts, counts on snowstorms in the winter for his snowplowing business, but over the past several years, his income from plowing has fallen with climate changes.

“It hurts my wallet, I make most of my money during the winter doing side jobs and plowing extra neighborhoods.” said Green.

Green plows snow for the town during the winter and works landscaping during the summer. Green has always had a comfortable lifestyle making decent pay for his hard work. The pressing issue of climate change has affected the amount of work and payment Green has been receiving.

Green is among many business owners whose livelihoods are dependent on seasonal weather patterns. Climate change is changing the weather patterns worldwide and shortening the winter seasons while extending the summer ones. A recent study from FileUnemployment.org  has shown the effects that climate change has on different jobs worldwide. This study looked at all aspects of working from labor works to tourism. People may think they are safe from climate change, but it will affect everyone.

“The International Labor Organization released a report recently which states that. Heat will cut down two percent of working hours worldwide. In addition, 43 million jobs will be lost globally due to rising temperatures.”

With record-breaking temperatures, melting ice caps, and devastating natural disasters, the evidence is clear that the planet is rapidly warming. Climate change is caused by a variety of factors, including the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrial agriculture. Additionally, the impacts of climate change are often gradual and may not be immediately noticeable to the public.

Global temperature is a key indicator of climate change, and scientists have been monitoring it closely for a long time. The Earth’s temperature has been increasing rapidly in recent years, with 2020 being one of the warmest years on record. Understanding the causes and consequences of this warming is essential for addressing the impacts of climate change. Global climate change scientist Andrew Fosters reports on the information above. Andrew Foster graduated from Brown University where he studied economics, and he is now applying this degree to his study on climate change and health services.

Lauren Wetterau is a climate scientist who currently lives in Colobus Indiana. Wetterau currently works at Purdue University as a professor but is still conducting studies and research of her own. Wetterau has been studying the causes, effects, and how to solve climate change.

“Climate change is not a distant problem, it’s happening right now. We need to come together, take action, and make the necessary changes to mitigate its impacts and build a more sustainable future” Wetterau said.

To take the steps needed to help stop climate change citizens need to be monitoring global temperature. This will help us have a better understanding of the impacts of climate change and for deciding the effectiveness of policies and actions to address it. Scientists use a variety of methods to measure global temperature, including surface temperature measurements, satellite data, and ocean temperature measurements.

On the top of combating climate change, Wetterau said, “The first change needs to be at people’s homes, changing our lifestyles and educating ourselves on the topic is the most important thing we can do”.

Wetterau believes that if everyone just does their own part, then as a community we can work to lower the global temperature of the planet.

According to FileUnemployment.org, this is a lot easier said than done. The hardest challenge in measuring temperature is considering natural causes in the Earth's climate system. Such as volcanic erupting and spreading ash, solar radiation, and ocean currents. However, scientists have developed sophisticated methods to account for these natural factors and to isolate the impact of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions on global temperature. Greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are put into the earth’s atmosphere by human activities. Once these gases are in the air they reflect the sun’s rays back at the Earth, not allowing them to escape. This creates almost like a blanket, keeping the temperature from the sun’s rays trapped in the surface.

There are many solutions that have been proposed to try and fix this situation that we have created. The clearest option is to cut down on the use of fossil fuels and other things that give off greenhouse gases. A better solution is looking toward renewable energy, wind power, solar power, nuclear power, and hydropower.

“I know these ideas of renewable energy can be extremely expensive and many people think they are unrealistic, but this is not true. They basically pay for themselves after a couple of years. Do the research and you’ll be surprised you can afford it” says Wetterau.

 All these forms of renewable energy take material that is given to us by nature and is turned into energy without giving off nasty greenhouse gases. In addition to humans’ source of energy, reducing emissions from transportation can be very important.  Transportation is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, particularly from cars and trucks. Encouraging the use of electric and hybrid vehicles, promoting public transportation, and investing in bike and pedestrian infrastructure can all help reduce emissions from the transportation sector.

As researchers continue to study the ramifications of climate change, people like Green whose livelihoods are being affected by shortened and warmer seasons. These new seasons make it harder to citizens to keep seasonal jobs and make money for themselves. There are people every day trying to come up with the perfect solution. Nothing is perfect yet, but people are working hard every day. These climate changes and conditions are affecting people’s lives every day. To protect yourself and those around you educating yourself is the most important thing possible. Once you know what you are fighting then you have a better understanding of how to face challenges similar to Timothy Green.

“This winter was a tough one for me personally, I only had to plow for the town twice this year. The season seems to be getting lighter and lighter every year. It’s getting harder for me to support myself in the winter by just plowing alone” said Green.