Why Climate Change Is A Bigger Problem Than Most Think

A simple visualization of the consequences that could result from climate change if we continue to release greenhouse gases.

Climate change is framed by many as a hoax or a distant problem that won’t affect us. However, climate change is a real problem, and it becomes even more concerning when world leaders refuse to acknowledge it. For example, current U.S. President Donald J. Trump, in 2012, sent out a Tweet, claiming that “the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.” Even more recently, in 2024, following Hurricane Helene, Trump dismissed the climate crisis as “one of the great scams.”

Trump is not the only world leader that is denying climate change. While Trump may be one of the more prominent figures being outspoken about climate change denial, other leaders, in the recent past, took more action-based approaches, directly working against reducing climate change. Jair Bolsonaro, the former president of Brazil, incentivized farmers to cut down and burn parts of the Amazon rainforest, and according to a report from the Institute of Physics, the rate at which trees were being cut down in Brazil doubled soon after Bolsonaro took office in 2019. Fortunately, Brazil’s current president has taken an opposite stance on climate change and has made a commitment to make Brazil greener and achieve zero deforestation by 2030. Looking at Trump again, he has not just been denying climate change through his words; he has done so through his actions as well. In January 2025, on the day he took office, Trump wasted no time in withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, making the U.S. one of only four nations outside the agreement, with the other three being Iran, Libya, and Yemen.

As a society, we are reaching the climax, and if they haven’t already, the impacts and course of climate change may become irreversible, especially if world leaders don’t work together. It’s important to note that many countries, like Brazil itself or those in Scandinavia, have taken significant steps towards reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but it won’t be of much help if a part of the world works towards reducing climate change while the another part actively works against it.

The countries that have ratified, signed, or withdrawn from the Paris Agreement.

In the Paris Agreement, the goal was to make sure that global temperatures did not exceed 2°C above pre-industrial levels, but ideally, they want to cap it at “well below” that at around 1.5°C. At the moment, global temperatures are already 1.2°C over pre-industrial levels, so that leaves us with just 0.3°C to work with before we reach that first benchmark. In order to not go over that 1.5°C mark, we must reduce global GHG emissions by 43% by 2030, all the way down from 2019 levels of 59.1 billion metric tons of harmful gases. For 2°C, we must reduce GHG emissions by 25%. And how far have we progressed so far? Well, global emissions are still rising, though slowly flatlining, and by 2030, we are expected to only reduce GHG emissions by 5-10%, which is far below both 25% and 43%.

It’s clear that we aren’t on track, but why does something like a 1°C increase even matter? What difference could it possibly make?

A 0.5° or even 1°C increase in global temperatures might seem minor, but its effects will be catastrophic and far-reaching. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), each increment of warming amplifies the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. For instance, at 1.5°C warming—as a reminder, we are at 1.2°C right now—heatwaves that once occurred every 50 years are projected to occur every five years, and extreme rainfall events could increase by 10-20% in intensity. In 2023, the World Meteorological Organization reported a 30% rise in extreme weather events compared to the 1990-2010 baseline. The year 2022 alone saw $270 billion in damages from climate-related disasters.

There is more to the climate change crisis than just weather because even small temperature increases threaten ecosystems critical to human survival. The IPCC believes that 20-30% of species face extinction risk at 2°C warming over pre-industrial levels. Coral reefs, which are vital for 25% of marine life, are projected to lose 70-90% of their coverage at just 1.5°C, according to the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network. This loss will disrupt food chains and fisheries, not only impacting marine life but also millions of people that rely on the fishing industry. Meanwhile, more data from the IPCC shows that on land, a global temperature increase of 0.8°C from current levels would mean 16% of plants, 18% of insects, and 8% of vertebrates would lose a majority of their geographic range, which consists of the habitats where these species can survive. At a 0.3°C increase from current levels, this reduces to 8% of plants, 6% of insects, and 4% of vertebrates, but these numbers still mark a significant amount.

Economically, the impacts are equally as alarming. The National Bureau of Economic Research projects that the “worst-case” scenario of 2°C global warming could slash global GDP by 10-15% by 2050, hitting developing nations hardest. Socially, the Institute for Economics and Peace estimates that 1.2 billion people could be displaced by 2050 due to climate change, including sea-level rise, desertification, and extreme weather. Already, since 2008, over 20 million people have been displaced annually by weather-related hazards.

A graph showing the amount of Arctic sea ice every year from 1979 to 2024 (via nasa.gov).

In addition, Arctic sea ice, which reflects sunlight, has declined 13% per decade since 1979, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This creates a loop, as more ice thawing leads to less sunlight reflection, which then causes more heat to be trapped, global temperatures to rise, and more sea ice to melt. Thawing permafrost could release 55 to 100 billion tons of trapped carbon by 2100, which is equivalent to a decade of global emissions.

The Paris Agreement’s 2030 goals are already starting to slowly slip out of reach, and if we don’t take climate change seriously now, things will become out of our control, after which even the most aggressive measures will become pointless. As a first step, we must all, world leader or not, acknowledge that the climate crisis is not a hoax or a distant threat. In fact, it is an ongoing process that is happening as we speak. Next, we need to actively work towards improving our current climate change situation by pushing aside goals and policies focused purely on economic, social, or political benefits. While these may provide some short-term benefits, the devastating impacts that will result from ignored climate change will far outweigh them in the long term.