The Impending Crisis

People come to New York City because it is the city where dreams manifest, and the only thing that holds you back is your imagination. However, this city is like the rest of the world, and it is also dealing with an impending crisis. Global warming.

The consequences of climate change in New York City are becoming more noticeable as global temperatures continue to climb. Heat waves are getting more severe and frequent, and extreme weather events are happening more frequently. The lives of New Yorkers are being greatly impacted by these shifts, making them more than predictions. The heat waves that seem to last longer each summer are one of the most obvious and apparent effects of climate change in the city. Summers are getting hotter and hotter, and this is becoming a problem for the residents of the five boroughs. Statistics show that over 20% of late June through mid-August dates between 2011 and 2020 saw daily maximum temperatures of 90°F or greater. Extreme heat poses major health hazards, especially to vulnerable groups such as the elderly, young children, and those low-income areas may not have access to air conditioning.

Furthermore, the rising sea level is a serious problem for New York City. The boroughs are surrounded by water, and there is a likelihood of rising sea levels to submerge sections of the city. Hurricane Sandy is a prime example of the fragility of our coastal cities. Extreme weather phenomena, such as hurricanes and torrential rain, are also made worse by global warming. Flooding, property destruction, and interruptions to everyday life are all potential outcomes of these occurrences. Unfortunately, torrential rain can be dated back to even the making of this es- say. On Friday, September 29, 2023, New York faced one of the worst rainfalls of all time: The Queens Chronicles described it as “Near-record rainfall”. Multiple trains were suspended as a result of the floods. Social media was filled with videos of water flooding out of walls and pour- ing onto the underground trains. Even LaGuardia Airport was shut down because of the floods caused by the torrential rain. This rain was so bad that Mayor Eric Adams had to make a public statement advising people not to go outside. This is simply a glimpse at what the far future could hold. If we don’t take proper actions to fight against global warming now, we could see natural disasters that are far worse than this.

Consequently, people argue that combating global warming is impossible. They claim that cutting greenhouse emissions is impossible because of how dependent we are on fossil fuels. Cars use fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases—Cars carry one-fifth of global CO2 emis- sions—and we would not be able to get rid of that because of how dependent we are on them. While that is a valid argument, there are workarounds to that argument. Investing in electric cars can significantly lower the tremendous amount of greenhouse gasses that are produced. Further- more, investing in renewable energy and green technology as a whole is a good step in moving 3 away from fossil fuels. Not to mention it will open up new employment possibilities. These are some of the main reasons why it is possible to be in a society that is not based on fossil fuels. To add on, there is an interesting fact about why more people don’t support global warming efforts. According to the surveys by Pew Research Center, Gen Z and Millennials are more likely to support positive actions against global warming compared to older generations. There are many reasons as to why this is the case. One of the main reasons is a lack of education. Older genera-tions did not learn about the importance of global warming. This is precisely why we need to ed-ucate the older generation on the significance of keeping the world green.

In conclusion, global warming is not a far-fetched problem but a real and present threat to the five boroughs of New York City. The construction of the Pyramids of Giza took years and involved careful brick-by-brick and stone-by-stone work. Similar to this, combating global warming requires a methodical, step-by-step strategy. We cannot expect to tackle this complicat-ed issue overnight; rather, we must set the groundwork for change now, realizing that the entire impact may take years or even generations to manifest.

References

1. Commuter Alert! What NYC subway and Metro-North lines are running? (2023, Sep- tember 30). NBC New York. https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/commuter-alert-nyc- subway-and-metro-north-service-severely-impacted-by-heavy-rain-and-flooding/4723976/
2. Gannon, M. (2023, October 2). Near-record rainfall slams the borough. The Queens Chronicle. https://www.qchron.com/editions/central/near-record-rainfall-slams-the-borough/ article_b22c160e-615b-11ee-bcc8-efc7a2f9b4a8.html
3. Nadeem, R. (2023, May 22). Gen Z, millennials stand out for climate change ac- tivism, social media engagement with issue | Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center Science & Society. https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2021/05/26/gen-z-millennials- stand-out-for-climate-change-activism-social-media-engagement-with-issue/
4. NYC Environmental Health. (n.d.). https://nyccas.cityofnewyork.us/nyccas2022/re- port/ 1#:~:text=Hotter%20Summers%3A%20The%20proportion%20of,90%C2%B0F%20or%20h igher.
5. Needelman, Joshua. “Why Hasn’t It Snowed yet in New York City?” The New York
   Times, 23 Jan. 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/01/23/nyregion/new-york-snow-rain-winter.html.