Global warming has long been debated throughout society as either being scientific or a myth. Many people still believe the concept of climate change being sped up by human interruption is a complete hoax, but scientific evidence will continue to prove them wrong.

There is already a plethora of evidence to support the concern for climate change. NASA mentions several, such as: warming oceans, shrinking ice sheets, glacial retreat, less snow-covered areas, rise in sea levels, less area of arctic sea ice, increased average and record-breaking temperatures globally, and many more.

Pleasant Valley senior, Anna Griffin, disagrees with these claims. She said, “I would say it is global change, not just global warming. It has been around not just in the present but in the past and we can see that with the ice age…” She is correct that climate changes are indeed normal, in fact, NASA claimed that many climate changes can be traced to the variations of Earth’s orbit, but these do not account for the accelerated process.

PV Junior, Carly Lundry, identifies as a supporter of the fight against global warming. She recognizes the problem at hand and wants peers to be educated and make a change. She said, “It has been scientifically proven that the increase in greenhouse gasses has caused the earth to warm.” Lundry stated she got her information from NASA.

In the science community, it is currently proven that the carbon monoxide emitted from the burning of gas, oil, and coal (all fossil fuels) is also responsible for the influxed temperatures. The problem is not that a change is occurring, but instead that it is occurring much more rapidly than expected. Scientists are very concerned about the quick pace in which Earth is heating up and are putting forth much effort to learn even more.

Surprisingly enough, recent studies show that already, 3 trillion tons of ice has melted in Antarctica in response to global warming. As if this is not enough to grab attention, the equivalent to this is two quadrillion gallons of water added to oceans which adds to the concern of rising sea levels.

People have been able to measure the area in which arctic ice specifically is melting, but they have not been able to measure the changing depths, which could be even more alarming. This is what NASA’s new mission will set out to accomplish. A space laser in orbit will be able to provide data by satellite on the melting ice across the globe. Global warming cannot be improved upon without knowledge, so current evidence and upcoming findings can help build the path towards a green future.