It’s ten seconds till midnight. Ten seconds until humanity is transported into a new year, with some hoping to improve their health, attitude, and overall lives. Others going into the new year are hoping that in 2025 they will have a chance for a fresh start, leaving behind any heartbreaks, sadness, anger, and disappointments of 2024 behind. However, what many don’t realize is that the new year isn’t a fresh start or a so-called “new year, new me” for our Earth. When the clock strikes midnight there will be exactly four years and 221 days until the damage from climate change is irreversible according to scientists, and exactly 20 days until America is led by a president who denies the effect of climate change and plans to derail any policies that will help stop it.

The year 2024 was filled with what felt like never-ending natural disasters and sweltering temperatures. From Hurricane Helene in September that devastated Appalachian America to the series of tornadoes and hail that sweeped the south in February, these disasters left destruction –both physically and mentally– to people living all across the United States. What is at the root of all of these disasters? Climate change. As the globe is rapidly warming due to carbon emissions from humans, more water is evaporating from our waterways and ending up in our atmosphere. This water vapor in our atmosphere becomes the fuel for more powerful and frequent storms to develop, contributing to the numerous hurricanes, tornadoes, and severe storms that have destroyed parts of our nation. The outlook for 2025 doesn’t feel great either. With 2024 being the hottest year on record, and with 2025 being expected to pass that, this brings in a chance for more disastrous severe weather than ever.

          However, natural disasters are not the only outcomes of climate change, just as CO2 emissions aren’t the sole contributor. As the global population continues to increase, so does human and urban development. These developments require a significant amount of space, which means destroying the habitats of numerous species, ultimately resulting in a loss of important biodiversity. Furthermore, increasing global temperatures are also causing rising sea levels which are predicted to negatively impact 20 million coastal Americans by 2030, according to the EPA. On top of this, all of these negative factors are not expected to slow down from 2024, with climate change continuing to accelerate at an incredibly alarming rate. 

This acceleration may be sped up once Donald Trump takes office in January, as according to environmentalist and founder of the Environmental Voter Project, Nathaniel Stinnett, the incoming administration poses “a major threat to the planet.” Trump has repeatedly denied that climate change exists or that it is an existential threat, while throughout his campaign he promised to halt all federal climate action, weaken air pollution regulations, and repeal the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act that invested over $350 million dollars into reducing carbon emissions and creating renewable energy. Trump plans on making it easier for large oil and gas companies to extract and burn these materials, screwing over large numbers of the American people. Furthermore, his cabinet pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency, former congressman Lee Zeldin, states that his plan for the EPA is to “focus on economic prosperity throughout the agency.” This means that he is on board with Trump’s plan to focus on helping billion-dollar oil and gas companies instead of the American people and the environment. For many, all of this sounds like the environment is unsaveable and they continue to feel defeated and scared. Despite the growing threats to Earth, we must not stop fighting for the future of our environment and our world.

You as an individual hold so much power, just by using your voice. In order to hold big corporations accountable that are damaging our planet, you can organize or join protests. Some specific organizations you can donate either money, time, or effort to are the Climate Reality Project, Rainforest Alliance, Greenpeace, Climate Action Reserve, and many more. You can also create petitions, and advocate for legislation that fairly increases taxes and regulations on these companies to your local and federal governments. Lastly, participating in boycotts, and spreading awareness through social media platforms and to the people in your community who may not be aware of the little time we have left to save our planet, can be extremely valuable. The effort to help stop climate change takes all of us, no matter where you come from, what your political beliefs are, or what you look like. We must exercise our right to express our opinions and voices now. Otherwise it will be too late.