This winter we have seen record-high temperatures, which causes many to wonder why it is so warm in the middle of the coldest times of the year. A simple answer? Global warming. While the nice weather might be everything you have ever hoped for, it is actually quite concerning.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in the past century, South Dakota has warmed by one to two degrees. Not only have we warmed up a little bit but our rainfalls are becoming more intense and our changing weather conditions are making it harder for some of our crops to be yielded. While it is a far stretch to worry about the climate getting too hot for humans in places like Sioux Falls, scientists are beginning to worry about certain places in Arizona getting too hot to live in.

According to 12news, there are a few counties in Arizona that could be at risk of uninhabitable climates in the next 30 years. With some of these counties breaking records for the number of days over the temperatures of 110-115, it is not a far-fetched prediction. 

Since the 1700s, humans have increased the amount of carbon dioxide being admitted into the atmosphere by 40% from new inventions like cars, ships, planes, etc. This not only increases greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere that leads to warming temperatures but also the increase in carbon dioxide is changing the oceans’ temperatures and ice coverage. With the increase in carbon dioxide, it is reacting with more water to create carbonic acid, causing the oceans to be more acidic.

While there is no simple fix to this worsening problem as our fast-paced world keeps progressing, there have been new cleaner ways of living that have been invented in the last century. For example, electric cars have become much more popular and accessible to people. The most known electric car out there is Tesla, which in 2020 was able to avoid five million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. In comparison, a car fueled by gas emits around 69 tons of carbon dioxide emissions in its lifetime. We are beginning to make necessary changes to ensure the health of our planet, but there is still a lot of work left to do.