The warm weather of Spring… but with climate change, is it getting too warm?

#TeenEssay

As we enter spring, the sun is beginning to show itself more often and, as we might expect, it is getting warmer. But we have to consider: is it getting too much warmer? During last June’s heat wave, temperatures in the Portland area reached 115, the highest on record. A year before that, smoke and smog from wildfires hung over many parts of the Pacific Northwest.

Weather events like these, which seem to be abnormal, are really more than that. In many cases, as with last summer’s hot weather, they are part of a trend due to climate change, which has dramatic, and in many cases catastrophic, effects on the planet. In addition to rising temperatures, melting glaciers and more wildfires, lesser-known effects like shifts in the timing of the beginning of spring weather can damage ecosystems, disrupting food webs and threatening both plant and animal species.

This doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do. But it will take action and commitment. This Earth Day, do more than just appreciate the planet we live on. Take the time to think about what is happening to it. Take the time to learn about what you can do. We will only be able to stop climate change from causing further damage to our home if we all work together to preserve it.

Anna Janowski is a teen volunteer at the Beaverton City Library. Outside of school, she likes to read, write, play softball and the trumpet.