After reading Holly Hewitt’s short story The Weatherman, I began thinking more and more about how climate change on Earth will affect third world countries. Living in North America, it is quite obvious that we are responsible for a fair portion of the global warming that our world is experiencing. That being said, I would also argue that a fair number of American’s don’t know the full effects that global warming can have, and therefore aren’t planning on changing their lifestyles anytime soon. Consequently, climate change will get worse, and it will have an immediate effect on third world countries.

In an article in The Guardian, John Vidal illustrates just how severe the effect could be. Vidal opens up the article by stating that low-income countries will remain on the frontline of human-induced climate change over the next century, experiencing gradual sea-level rises, stronger cyclones, warmer days and nights, more unpredictable rains, and larger and longer heat waves. This is a pretty clear-cut statement which illustrates the probable damage that could begin if global warming continues to grow. Not only will this affect the people of these countries, but it will also impact the environment. While people can fly or boat away from the their society, most animals and plants cannot. This will result in a dramatic loss in animal species and a massive impact on nature. Vidal goes on to say that weather disasters are also more likely in the warmer world, the report suggests. Although the global frequency of tropical cyclones is expected to decrease or remain essentially unchanged, they may become more intense, with stronger winds and heavier rainfall. Just think about the Japanese tsunami in 2011. A 9.0 magnitude earthquake in the Pacific Ocean created a 33 foot wave that hit the coast, creating devastating affects on the population, numerous hydrogen explosions, and even a nuclear meltdown! I hope I am not just speaking for myself when I say that I don’t want anything worse than this to happen…ever. If scientists’ predictions are correct, then the storms and natural disasters will be worse than this. If we don’t want events like the Japanese tsunami to happen or get worse, then we, as people of the United States should do something about it.

As Americans, it’s not hard to understand that we are the leaders in greenhouse gas emission—just look at the facts. The United States comprises about 4% of the earth’s population, but emits about 25% of the total global green house gases. This is just wrong. We have to change the fact that we have such a large negative impact on the world. Even if we are a global leader in many industries, it cannot be justified by having such large emissions. Compared to China’s 1.3 billion people, America’s 290 million emit over seven times as much per person. Even with all these emissions; however, North America is still going to be fine. Maybe some cities will flood and our storms will get worse, but we will not have the severe, disastrous effects that will occur in warmer climates. If we continue to emit such an enormous amount that the earth is ruined, will we then try to control the weather like in Hewitt’s short story? I think that is important to ask ourselves these questions because it makes us think about our future. We live in such a great world, yet all we do is destroy it. I believe that we need to reconsider our day-to-day green house gas emission and try to cut it down. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has” – Margaret Mead