Climate change has a major impact on the environment. Depending on what climate an area has can have consequences for agriculture, tourism, national security, fishing and infrastructure. Shifting behaviors of the world’s atmosphere can be unpredictable, but scientists are finding ways to predict these changes in order to protect businesses.

This raises a big question: Should climate change be considered a political issue?

After some research, I don’t think it should be.

People debate on climate change based on issues such as causes, impacts, risks and remedies.

I feel this sort of debate should have an easy solution.

Rather than being at each other’s heads debating whether it is important to take action, we should take action. The time spent debating this issue is wasted time, and we should have been in preparation 30 years ago.

Our environment doesn’t wait on us to make a decision when it presents us with natural disasters. Science can predict weather patterns, but our ever-changing world, sometimes due to us, is unpredictable.

In 1988, 41st U.S. President George H.W. Bush stopped in Michigan to speak on issues such as acid rain and deforestation, but also brought climate change to the forefront.

“Our land, water and soil support a remarkable range of human activities, but they can only take so much, and we must remember to treat them not as a given but as a gift,” he said. “These issues know no ideology, no political boundaries. It’s not a liberal or conservative thing we’re talking about.”

I personally agree with this statement and feel people do take the environment for granted by allowing deforestation, pollution and climate change to continue.

When kept unchecked, who knows what kind of event will happen? It could not only lead to harmful actions to the world’s ecosystems, but also negatively affect businesses that rely on the environment, such as tourism and agriculture.

Wasting time on making climate change an issue of politics isn’t going to progress any change; it’s only going to avoid the true issue. By the time a decision is made, it’s already too late. We need to be prepared for any unexpected force that can happen so we may recover from it quickly, not waste our time deciding to take action.