It’s World Environment Day today, and this year the theme is ‘connecting people to nature’. The problem is, a lot of people 'don’t 'connect people and nature which makes them think that the environment is a boring and irrelevant topic.

But from pushing Earth’s creatures to extinction to natural disasters, the environment is in danger, and that definitely is going to influence our lives to the MAX.

With CO2 levels soaring, heat is getting trapped in our atmosphere and the world is getting warmer. We need to look after Mother Nature, now more than ever. Why? Well because…

1. The US isn’t going to

You might have heard in the news that Donald Trump is pulling the US out of the Paris Climate agreement because he says it “disadvantages the United States to the exclusive benefit of other countries”. He said he would try to negotiate a new fairer deal for the US but also that “if we can, that’s great. And if we can’t that’s fine.”

Uhhh, no it’s not fine Trump. You just want the US to carry on producing loads of greenhouse gasses regardless of climate change because it’s good for business. Cool - we’ll all just end up underwater but that’s fine. As long as it’s good for business.

The Paris Climate Agreement was signed by all nations in the world. That was a BIG deal - nearly 200 countries agreed to commit to cutting their greenhouse gas emissions.

Now it just looks like the US will power on full steam (or CO2) ahead, regardless of the impact it will have on the world.

2. Watch the trailer for An Inconvenient Sequel

Regardless of whether you watched the first An Inconvenient Truth you should probably watch the trailer for its sequel. It’s all about how the right changes have been made but are being threatened by those who don’t believe natural nightmares like flooding and ice melting will affect us in the long-term.

It’s also shows how a prediction made about the flooding of the 9/11 memorial site ACTUALLY CAME TRUE. Pretty scary…

3. Think of the penguins

We all love penguins, but sadly they’re being forced to move… not to greener pastures, but to icier icecaps. And that’s because the ice really is melting. A NASA study revealed that Greenland has lost 36-60 cubic miles of ice per YEAR between 2002 and 2006. Antarctica lost about 36 cubic miles of ice between 2002 and 2005.

Here’s the bit that will break your heart. Megan Cimino, the leading oceanographer in a University of Delaware study, said that “for penguins who lay their eggs on the ground… rain and puddles are bad because eggs can’t survive when they’re lying in a pool of water. Chicks that don’t have waterproof feathers can become wet and die from hypothermia.”

ARE YOU DYING? WE’RE DYING…

4. The sea is in trouble

A huge amount of the heat caused by increased CO2 emissions is being absorbed by the sea. Among other problems warmer waters create, coral (which a huge amount of sea life relies on) is turning white due to stress-induced bleaching. Bleached coral is more vulnerable and likely to die. Plus, imagine a sea with white coral. Gross. Not to mention the CHAOS it causes to the underwater food chain.

The sea is also absorbing a lot of CO2 and because of that it’s chemistry is changing… it’s becoming more acidic! Acidic waters are problematic because sea creatures with gills may find it harder to breathe as dissolved oxygen is harder to extract in more acidic water.

Acidic water is also a problem for sea creatures with shells as it makes shells harder to build - so shellfish, crabs, lobsters and corals will have a real shocker. Their shells may even start to DISSOLVE.

5. Black Mirror scenario

So you may have heard that bees are declining in the UK. This is due to several possible factors – one, we have lost a HUGE amount of flowery grassland due to food production demands etc. so the bees have less flowers to pollinate. Two, the world getting warmer means flowers come out quicker which many bees haven’t adapted to (so they get less time to pollinate). Three, climate change has restricted areas where bees can actually survive.

If you’ve seen that episode of Black Mirror where bees become extinct so mechanical ones are introduced and then they get hacked and a psychopath makes them attack one person per evening depending on who people voted to die on social media… well that could happen.

That could definitely happen.

6. David (Attenborough) says so

David Attenborough is an absolute hero and we can all agree on that.

Well at the end of his latest series, Planet Earth II (which had more young people watching it than X Factor), David said, “it’s surely our responsibility to do everything within our power to create a planet that provides a home not just for us, but for all life on Earth”.

That’s reason enough to take things into our own hands… he’s right, we do want to save all the life on Earth besides humans, but we also just want to do what David wants us to do. Because we love him.

There are many more (more scientific) reasons that now, more than ever, we need to look after Mother Nature. And the good thing is that it’s not hard to make a positive contribution. For example, constantly carrying around a foldable fabric bag means you never end up having to use a plastic one. Being more mindful of our everyday habits and making more conscious changes that reduce our carbon footprint can make a huge impact in the long-run.

As it’s World Environment Day there are some easy things you can specifically do today too to get everyone else on board. For example, you can take a pic of your fave spot in nature and tag it #WorldEnvironmentDay, find out how you can attend a special event, or check out and record the biodiversity in your back yard. Find out more on the official site here.

Happy nature loving!

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