A recent video released by National Geographic has gone viral causing everyone who watches it to cringe in disbelief at the sight of a struggling animal. This video displays a brittle Canadian polar bear searching for food in a trash can because it’s usually meal, a seal, is nowhere in sight. What is the cause of this problem in the polar bear environment? Climate change.

Climate change is the change of the average weather of an area as well as the change of earth as a whole. Some causes to climate change are natural such as volcanic eruptions, oceanic changes and changes in Earth’s orbit.

However, there are also countless contributors to climate change that are human-induced. When humans use cars and factories, fossil fuels are emitted, which warm the earth. The gas that is most responsible for this effect is carbon dioxide. The methane that is released from landfills and agriculture (mostly animal related) also adds to the warming of the earth.

If the climate of the earth continues to increase, there are many problems that could begin to occur. According to National Geographic, freshwater could become less available, hurricanes could become stronger and ecosystems will be at risk of changing or even becoming extinct.

The future of the earth resulting from it’s warming climate many seem alarming, but there are multiple ways that one can help reduce this effect. One easy activity that everyone can do is to take shorter showers as well as turning off the water while brushing one’s teeth. It takes a lot of energy to treat and heat water, which will essentially add to the total carbon footprint. Lastly, one can help by unplugging devices or chargers that they are not using, this helps save energy as well.