Oh the controversy! You’ve all heard it, that humans are responsible for this phenomenon that will cause a global apocalypse, rife with lava-spewing volcanoes, and formidable earthquakes. And perhaps you’ve all scoffed at the ridiculous notion that through this global warming, you know…all that jazz about carbon emissions, the earth will meet its end. Besides, it seems that people are not even sure if this global warming exists—you think, can’t they get it straight? Variants are thrown around, from global cooling, to climate change to the ominous El Niño.

So what’s the inconvenient truth? Global warming does exist—there’s no controversy about that—and we are adding to the climate change that has been changing environments the world over.

To understand a more comprehensive picture of global warming, you have to understand that the warming is one element in climate change. And the reason why there seems to be the confusion of colder winters in the Midwestern US, etc., is that yes, global warming is occurring in the general trend of things (i.e. the Arctic ice season becomes shorter every year, fluctuating wildly in terms of area and mass), but it is occurring because of our way of life. Disturbing the climate through carbon emissions is only a small part of the other ways that we are affecting the planet drastically; consider deforestation, the weakening of the ozone layer, and our ever-expanding housing industry. What about the apocalyptic, run-for-your-lives sort of natural disasters I mentioned above? If you think logically about it, they’re not extremely likely to occur. But if you have noticed what seems an increase in hurricanes, blizzards, droughts, and storms in the past decades, you may just be on to something. You see, it is climate change that causes irregular weather patterns and more of these types of natural disasters. It is equally important to realize that this progression of events has a history. A human history.

Our human modifications however, while recent, have not suddenly sprung up as it might seem. You could say that things started taking a bad turn around the era of the Industrial Revolution, and escalated from there before dipping down again as we have come to realize how we can take the offensive against environmental degradation. The more glorified (and justifiably so) vanguards of sustainability include solar panels, wind turbines, and biofuels among many other astonishing innovations, but you don’t need to be heavily invested in renewable energy to lessen your own footprint.

Start by having an open mind and being receptive to the fact that while, for example, our iPhones and toasters may be wonderful products of human innovation, their production and disposal are not always the most environmentally friendly. From there, that awareness can extend to a lot of your daily activities, from recycling that soda can you drink, to maybe not taking as long of a shower. It is tempting to think that as an individual, you can not do much when the rest of humanity is washing their car next to the storm drain, but that type of thought prevents us from making an ocean of our many drops of water. So now that you’ve warmed your brain to global warming, how about taking the steps to slow it down a bit?