After record breaking wind chills and temperatures across the U.S. the last week in January, President Trump sent out one of his notoriously controversial tweets regarding his beliefs about global warming. And although the President acknowledged the frigid temperatures sweeping across parts of the Midwest, he has never hesitated to make his opinion known.

“What the hell is going on with Global Warming? Please come back fast, we need you!” Trump said on Jan. 28th. What is even more frightening than Trump’s lack of poise and decorum as the leader of our country, is the fact that some agree with the President’s somewhat ignorant ideas that global warming simply does not exist.

Many fail to recognize the difference between weather and climate, and this key discrepancy is the answer to all of our questions. The freak cold temperatures are an example of weather, a description of climatic events in a shorter time frame.

On the other hand looking at our climate, scientists have found that atmospheric temperatures have risen significantly in the past decades. According to the Global Climate Change project conducted by NASA, the global temperature has increased by almost 2 degrees since 1880. Carbon dioxide levels are also the highest they’ve been in 650,000 years.

Scientists only expect these levels to rise as humans continue to produce more greenhouse gas emissions. Along with these changes in our climate are massive implications affecting all areas of the world.

Researchers from NASA expect more droughts and heat waves, stronger hurricanes, a rise in sea level, and the complete absence of ice in the Arctic affecting infrastructure and the daily lives of people all over the world. Already there has been a 12.8 percent decrease in the mass of Arctic Ice since 1979.

This obviously is not uplifting imagining our future world in shambles. Luckily there are many little things we can do to ensure we aren’t harming our planet and ourselves.

In order to burn less fossil fuels, it is imperative that we carpool or use other less wasteful means of transportation like walking and biking. We can also reduce our greenhouse gas emissions buy investing in renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind energy.

A prime example of this is Sweden, named one of the greenest countries in the world, who is just one of many of the regions leading the global institution of renewable energy. So we aren’t completely up to our necks in melted Arctic ice yet, but we could be soon.

Maybe like our President, we all need to crack open a Macbook and educate ourselves regarding the potential implications of global warming. After all, it is important that we remember the effect our actions have on the world around us and our future.