Now, I'm here to talk about climate change.

As most of us already know, Climate change is the long-term shift in

global or regional climate patterns. I'm not an environmentalist nor even at least a nature person. I'm just a
regular one. I commute to work and school, use electricity, and even plastic straws (but that was way before).
Well, so before, I thought of climate change as something that is just there. I took it to be happening slowly,
happening at a distance, and representing only a modest threat to the way that I lived. In each of these ways, I
was very, very wrong. Like most people I know, I lived my life ignorant of the real threat of global warming.

"According to the UN, if we don't change course, by the end of the century, we're likely to get about four degrees
Celsius of warming." It's not as bad as you think, right? Yes, because it's worse. The impacts are actually
happening a lot faster than in 2100. By just 2050, it's estimated, many of the biggest cities in South Asia and the
Middle East will be almost literally unlivable hot in summer. These are cities that today are home to 10, 12, and
15 million people. And in just three decades, you wouldn't be able to walk around outside in them without risking
heatstroke or possibly death.

Now, for a long time, we thought of climate change was happening slowly. That was true before but in fact, half of
all of the emissions that have ever been produced from the burning of fossil fuels in the entire history of humanity
have been produced in just the last 30 years.

We are experiencing the effects today. In the Philippines, for example; intense typhoons, changes in rainfall
patterns and distribution, and the intense rise in temperature; are just a few of them.

Despite that, we still haven't addressed this issue in the global climate. The reasons why are clear. Population,
technology, and awareness, just like Al Gore said (an environmentalist and former VP of the United States). The
population includes billions of people releasing emissions, technology increases energy consumption, and now
unawareness of people to the real threat of this phenomenon is not good. It's about to get worse if we don't act.

So now, the first step I want to take in helping to address this issue is to help you be aware that climate change is
happening here. It's happening now. Though it might be impossible to stop it, altogether, we can limit it. Success
and failure is not an act of nature. The future of our world is in our hands.

Now, imagine a world where it is lively, prosperous, and green. People would not stress out. Kids will be playing
outside their houses. Why not choose that world?