Luke East
Climate change threatens the existence of every living thing on this planet. No one can ignore the fact that weather-systems are changing.
The increasing number of bushfires, rising rainfall and more vicious cyclones, threaten millions of lives.
The people who deny climate change deny science.
They leave the future down to chance, like a ball on a roulette wheel, ready to spin out of control at any moment.
This isn't someone else's problem to be left till another day.
This is our problem. It's our fight. It's our planet.
If we allow climate change deniers to project their views onto impressionable minds, we are putting our future at risk. Our ecosystem is fragile and for years we have abused it by plundering its resources and polluting our airways.
Trees and oceans are carbon buffers.
The pollutants we release into our atmosphere are absorbed by them. Every forest we chop down releases gallons of carbon back into the air, which is absorbed by our waterways and increasing their acidity, as they try to dilute the toxins we are poisoning our environment with.
From a local perspective, if the Mangaohoi Stream rises by just a few metres, parks, tennis courts and houses will be flooded.
If the Waikato River bursts its banks, hundreds of people will be affected. We can't continue to ignore this threat.
When we signed the Paris Climate Agreement it was seen as a major step towards a greener future.
A future where we nurture our environment back to health, in the hope of averting disaster. But some world leaders still deny the problem. They put the future of our children and grandchildren at risk by refusing to act.
The only way we can change this is to mobilise, energise and take action ourselves.
If we stand together we can achieve anything.
Together we can rally against those who ignore the threat. Together we can build the future we want. We are stronger together.
The price of butter could reach $9.50 by September.