From a young age we all study what a natural disaster is, their effect on Earth and on the people.

We all know the detrimental effects of natural disasters but don’t often experience them. This year alone has been one of the most shocking years for the earth. From fires, hurricanes, and excessive amounts of snow in the east, Earth seems to be showing us her wrath, but is climate change a real issue?

It all started back in August when Hurricane Harvey hit Texas. A category 4 hurricane, traveling 134 mph, this deadly cyclone was  first to set the trend. Harvey caused excessive amounts  of damage to Houston citizens. Shortly after, news of another hurricane hit. Hurricane Irma. Not only did it hit Florida but Puerto Rico and Cuba were both affected. This was a category 5 hurricane, killing over 134 people in Florida.

Across the country, on the West Coast, California was experiencing some of the worst fires in their history. The Thomas Fire, ignited on December 4th, destroyed 270,000 acres of land. Ironically after the fire, California had lots of rainfall. The rainfall caused mudslides and diseases are being spread to the citizens.

As winter approached, the East Coast experienced one of the worst winter storms in history. Temperatures reached far below zero and piles of snow barricaded people into their houses. Not only were there cold temperatures and snow but wind gusts averaged 70 mph, creating a long winter blizzard.

These issues caused harm to many people but are they results of global climate change? President Trump would say that climate change is “nonsense.” It’s something that is overstated and not  real. It was created by the Chinese to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.

Even with these extreme weather events, some people still believe climate change isn’t real.

Opposing Trump’s opinions are people who believe that climate change is real. Burning of fossil fuels have caused species like the green sea turtle to almost go extinct. Weather patterns like hurricanes and fires are altering the landscapes of cities. Even places like Florida have been experiencing snow while places like Colorado haven’t.

Who knows if climate change may actually be real, but no one likes natural disasters and bizarre weather patterns. More and more disasters like these recent hurricanes, fires, and blizzards occur each year, this is startling to the nation and we don’t want to continue the trend.