Look at the past for the truth on global warming

Regardless of whether global warming is a natural cycle or the result of human impact, anyone who doesn't believe in it is blind, plain and simple. And denial is just an excuse which doesn't help the situation at hand.

Recently, the Sierra Student Coalition hosted a film called "The 11th Hour," which discussed how big our carbon footprint is and just how much damage to the environment we are actually causing.

The film's images were enough to wrench your heart; the facts were enough to turn all doubters into fellows of "green action."

The relative youth of the human species is discussed in the film. We are very young considering how long the Earth has been here and the number of species that have existed and gone extinct before us.

Considering that, we are like children taking whatever we can get our hands on and wanting everything we see, constantly looking for more. What we really need is to enter a time of maturity where we see everything on Earth is not for the taking.

We are a part of nature, a part of the natural cycle of the Earth. Nature does not care in the slightest about us and nature can wipe us out in a heartbeat. In history, many have said we are living in order to crush ourselves in the end. We're looking more like that "destroy ourselves" species every day.

I am a scientist, therefore, I believe in evidence, in things that I can understand by using the five senses. I do not have to travel to the north or south poles to believe that the polar ice is melting. I can see photographic evidence and read what other scientists (and non-scientists) have found.

Evidenced by ice and soil samples taken from many places on Earth's surface, some many meters deep, scientists have concluded that the earth is warming at an exponential rate. There are thousands of pieces of data - all evidence of our impact on Earth. We have tapped into the ancient sun (oil and coal) and the use of this has been, and still is, disastrous to the environment.

Either go rent "The 11th Hour" or go outside anywhere and see the evidence for yourself. Talk to your parents, grandparents, or anyone who is older by at least 20 years and get their perspective on how the world was when they were young.

Ask how the air smelled, how the ground looked beneath their feet. My mother has shown me coastal beaches which sparkled with clarity in her day, but which are now murky.

Go swim in clear water while you still can. Go hug a tree, because you never know when it will come crashing down under the oppression of humankind's influence. Enjoy the earth now, because by the time the trees crash down, we'll be really screwed.