We have all heard about how global warming has affected many parts of the world and is causing global catastrophes, but do we know how this will affect us in the future, and could it cause the human race to go extinct?

Leading experts say that if we continue to release carbon emissions at the same rate we are now, the global temperature by the year 2050 will be 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than it is to this day. Scientists also say this will cause catastrophic floods with a sea-level increase of 30 centimeters or one foot. This could cause around 25 million to one billion people to lose their homes due to floods and sea levels increasing dramatically. This is not even the worst of it, many scientists say.

By the year 2100, the average global temperature will have risen over 4 degrees Celsius from today and will cause a sea-level rise of 69 centimeters. That amount will cause most of the U.S coastal cities to be flooded or fully submerged underwater. This will cause significant disasters not just with flooding but with overpopulation and less farmable land, which will cause many famines and will make world hunger an even more serious threat than it is now.

“The effects of climate change are real and must be acted on.” says newly sworn-in President Joe Biden. With President Biden now in office, he hopes to sign-on to the Paris Agreement to help slow down co2 emissions and possibly even stop co2 emissions altogether. President Biden also hopes to go 100 percent carbon-free by the end of his term. But this will be a very big step to take and will probably take lots of sacrifices to have this happen.

“Climate change is the most severe problem that we are facing today, more serious even than the threat of terrorism,” said David King, who is the UK’s government chief scientific adviser. Many scientists, including David King, say we are running out of time to stop global warming before it becomes irreversible. Scientists estimate we have around seven years to stop or at least slow down the amount of co2 emissions that we produce, and if we do not, the world will never be able to recover fully from what we have done.

Nevertheless, do not give up easily. With everyone’s help we can come together, and we can change how we live, once at a time. Even if nobody joins you, you can make a difference by helping clean up the environment to stop pollution, or even riding your bike to stop producing co2 emissions. Things like this can help the earth recover faster and possibly save millions of lives.