Climate Change: it’s like a thing that is there, but doesn’t feel real. Something that everyone talks and is concerned about but won’t actually do something about it. But it is real, it is going to happen and has been happening for a long time. You may not see or feel it, but it exists. Don’t wait for another person to act for you, just do it now.

This takes us to the Industrial Revolution, where everything started. Since the 1830s, when humans started using the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas for electricity, heat, and transportation, pollution began to increase.

Let’s actually explain what pollution is, because everyone talks about it but no one knows its nature. Pollution is the introduction of harmful materials into the environment. There are two types: the ones that are natural like volcano ash. Another form comes from human activity like trash or runoff produced by the factories. 

Can you see this picture? This is pollution. It’s not just about smoke in the air.

It’s about all the animals dying in the North Pole because of global warming that melts the ice. 

It’s about the Great Pacific garbage patch, a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean full of our waste. It’s about how we are running out of drinking water because we waste it. It’s about islands disappearing because of the sea level rising. And more, a lot more. 

That is why we have to recycle, be careful with how much water we use, be aware of all the things that are happening and take action. Because as many of you know, WE DON’T HAVE A PLANET B.

This article originally appeared in Igaramkin