By Leila Stewart

In November 2016, President Donald Trump was interviewed about climate change by the New York Times.

“It’s a very complex subject. I’m not sure anybody is ever going to really know. I know we have, they say they have science on one side,” said President Trump.

This past year, politicians, environmentalists, and other citizens of America have led marches, protests, and arguments for climate change. However, there are still politicians, environmentalists, and other citizens who are opposed to the idea of climate change.

Geoscience and Astronomy teacher, Courtney Monroe, is no stranger to science, or the reality of climate change.

“Climate change is real. We are causing it,” said Monroe.

What is climate change?

Climate change is defined as the change in regional or global climate patterns from the mid to late 20th century.

In the city of Lincoln, an increase of climate can be seen throughout the years.

The “Climate Change Implications” found in research done by the School of Natural Resources discovered that the temperature has risen about one degree Fahrenheit every year since 1895.

Although climate change is not something that can be seen, climate change is still happening.

“Climate change does not directly affect you right now, and that’s why it’s hard to get people excited about it. You’re still going to get up, eat a toaster pastry, and come to school. In four years, that won’t change,” said Monroe.

What causes climate change?

These changes are a result of an abnormal amount of greenhouse gases being released and contained in the atmosphere.

Due to the pollution from various sources and tampering of its original chemical composition, the atmosphere has a thick “blanket” around the earth.

These gas compounds cover the earth’s surface and trap the heat radiating from the earth. This causes an abnormal amount of heating or climate change.

Four gases that are influencing climate change are carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and ammonia.

Carbon Dioxide

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the United States uses the most carbon per person- out of every country in the world.

The abundance of carbon comes from fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, that humans burn.

Once these fossil fuels have been emitted into the atmosphere, they release carbon in the process.

After carbon is released, it forms with oxygen, which creates carbon dioxide.

Since the Industrial Revolution, the amount of carbon dioxide has increased by about 35 percent.

Carbon dioxide is the most abundant, but not the only gas compound contaminating the atmosphere.

Nitrous Oxide

Nitrous oxide is a chemical compound, or oxide of nitrogen, that comes from both commercial and organic fertilizers, chlorofluorocarbons, fossil fuel combustion, and synthetic compounds from factories.

Industrial factories are not the only contributors to climate change, productive agricultural cities have an impact as well.

Methane

Methane is an emitted gas that comes from livestock waste.

Reported by Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics in the article, “The effect of climate and climate change on ammonia emissions,” agricultural industries change the atmosphere’s chemical composition due to another gas, ammonia, that is released into the atmosphere.

Ammonia

Ammonia is a colorless gas compound that dissolves in water and has a distinct, pungent smell.

It will emerge from fertilizer application and livestock animal wastes. This causes changes to atmospheric chemistry.

Regardless of where these gases are emitted, each person will be exposed to them at some point.

“These gases remain in the atmosphere long enough to become well mixed, meaning that the amount that is measured in the atmosphere is roughly the same all over the world, regardless of the source of emissions,” said the Environmental Protection Agency.

Signs of Change

This upcoming July through September, temperatures, once again,  are supposed to increase.

It is predicted that in the summer of 2100, there will be 13 to 25 days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and the number of nights over 70 degrees Fahrenheit is to increase by 20-40 days.

Since agricultural industries play a huge role in life in Nebraska, these increased temperatures will affect crop production in the summer.

The heat will cause extra evapotranspiration, or water evaporating from plants, which will dry out the soil.

Along with hotter summers, comes warmer winters.

While warmer winters may sound nice to those who dislike the cold, they will also be problematic.

Warmer winters also means declining fresh water river flow due to less snowfall.

“It’s so obvious and real how climate change is accelerating,” said Monroe. “It used to be slow, but now it’s to the point where,  when you are my age, it’s going to be unrecognizable. When I was in high school, we always used six snow days a year. We haven’t used six snow days in forever. We get as much snow, but we get it in short periods of time and it doesn’t last as long. Your kids won’t know what a snow day is.”

What can we do?

Geoscience and Physics teacher Mark Novotny has suggestions on what students and staff can do.

“People need to start educating themselves,” said Novotny. “This will be tough, but viewing it from a scientific standpoint and not so much a Democrat or Republican standpoint, because it is a big issue right now in politics.”

Novotny encourages people to read more, investigate more, and expose themselves to information.

“The facts show what the evidence shows. The point of science is to gather information and interpret that data. People need to start believing what scientists are telling them. They’re not all crackpots.”