Erie, Pa, April 18, 2023—The world is changing and not in the best of ways.

Something people confuse is the difference between global warming and climate change.

Both are incredibly bad for our planet but are different.

Global warming has to do with the rise in temperatures from the increase in concentrations and greenhouse gases.

Climate change has to do with increasing changes in the measures of climate over a long period of time – including precipitation, temperature, and wind patterns.

Climate change is a real, fast acting worldwide catastrophe. This is something we need to act fast on.

As always, I engaged in conversation with my biology major friend, Kiley Williams, and we, of course, had a lot to say on the matter.

“A lot of people recognize that climate change is a problem that is caused by humans, but they believe that the battle is already lost, that there is nothing to do to reverse the effects,” she said. “But if everybody thinks this way then we have already lost.”

As college students- assuming most of us try to live on a budget- could be thinking; what can I do? While it is true that living green can be expensive it does not have to be.

There are plenty of ways to live green while also living an affordable lifestyle.

Go to your local grocery store or convenience store and look for their green merchandise. I go to Target and get bamboo products and more environmentally friendly products that could prove to be affordable.

“Individually you can change your habits to become more eco-friendly, but the biggest thing to do is to vote for legislatures that will make change and hold corporations accountable,” she said. Hold corporations and the government accountable for their actions such as the recent east “Palestine train wreck that released harmful chemicals into local bodies of water that will affect thousands of miles of land negatively for years, killing all living organisms within that region.”

When everyone has the mindsight of “I am just one person what can I do” nothing will get done. We all have the power to do something, no matter how big or small.

Every little bit helps the planet, our home. Even if it is just cutting down on single use plastics or switching a plastic toothbrush to a bamboo one. If everyone makes one little change, it will become one big change.

“We need people to keep advocating for change even though it is hard because it is more a systematic issue than it is an individual issue. Even though there is only so much we can do individually- to change daily habits to more eco-friendly- the main source of carbon emissions is from the way society quickly produces products,” Williams expressed. “As individuals if we all rally together and vote for a leader that will change the way society runs, the planet will not lose the battle to climate change.”

Williams and I expressed together that though we live in PA which is in an area that is seems as though it is not directly affected by climate change in comparison to other parts of the world, because our climate is stable, and we do not have to worry about rising sea levels and water shortages.

But we are seeing small effects of climate change in our state; birds are migrating more north to compensate for the rising temperatures, and one of the most worrying aspects is that invasive species that destroy our local Fawna and flora and agriculture and even lumber can thrive more with the rising temperatures throughout the year.

Invasive species are typically more controlled by the frigid winters, but when there are no freezing winters, these species become uncontrolled.

Please do something, anything. Nothing is too small when it comes to saving our planet, our home. Any small thing is a step in the right direction. I urge you to do something.