Why should it take another stupid made-up holiday like Earth Day for society to collectively realize we have not done much green living in our lives and need to do something about Earth’s rising temperature?

Humans as a whole seem to have devolved into a species resigned to accepting a reversible fate.

But we can change that. It will require slightly changing how we live and rising above the poli-sci labels that distract us from survival.

I do not understand why politics seem to dominate all climate change discussions. First there was Climategate, leaked emails used to support the allegations of climate change denialists and some that climate change is not really happening.

Then there is all of the fighting between environmentalists and politicians over environmental laws.

Even the terms “climate change” vs. “global warming” are up for debate; though they mean basically the same thing, they conjure different opinions and emotions from people. Like how “pro-life” vs. “anti-abortion” are the same but have different connotations.

I just want people to set their politics aside when it comes to the survival of the human race. I could honestly care less which term we use, but if I had to choose, it would be global warming.

Climate change sounds more hip, trendy and all-encompassing instead of being so Earth-centric but, unlike global warming, it lets people off the hook.

Why is it even considered a partisan issue? Scientists on both sides seem to agree either term is really just fine and that we must focus on saving the environment instead of splitting hairs.

“I call it global warming because of the way we’ve used that term in the past, it does have the idea at its core that humans are the dominant force at the center of the trend,” said James Wanket, professor of geography at Sacramento State. “It opens up the idea that what it is just natural. I think it’s important politically to make it clear … that humans are behind this.”

Our increasing standards of living most certainly are the common denominators in deteriorating environmental conditions.

Our excessive use of fossil fuels and other activities causing the release of greenhouse gases into the environment are accepted as the cause of climate change acceleration.

“(“Global warming’) implies that the biggest problems are related to temperature change,” said Mark Chandler, NASA research scientist. “Though that is the fundamental beginning of the problem … it’s just a tiny part of what’s really happening.”

It’s nice to pretend none of this is happening or that it is not our fault, but we undeniably affect the environment and have a lot of power to influence it.

“We’ve wasted about 30 years and a lot of climate change is going to happen,” Chandler said. “We’re in a position now to where … it’s way too late for us to stop change from happening, but it’s not to late to stop that change from being disaster.”

Let’s stop wasting time and consider what we can do. It’s what we hear all the time: drive less, turn on your thermostat, and turn the lights off when no one is in the room.

I hate that I even have to repeat it in this column, but I will in case the memo missed some people.

The late comedian George Carlin’s vision of “a big, smoking, flaming, stinking, bowl of gaseous s—” can be avoided.

Every little bit helps, but the biggest difference we can make is voting and pushing for government to support alternative and renewable energy.

“The final most important thing is we need some power changes,” Chandler said. “We have very large industries in this country based on fossil fuels and they have a lot of clout in the political realm, and we need to vote for people who don’t give them clout.”

We need to fill the voting booths if we want to save the Earth, and continue living more increasingly environmentally aware lives.

As humans, we will deserve our fate for continuing to act stupidly by wasting time bickering about labels and research instead of diverting disaster while it’s still possible.

Julia Baum can be reached at [email protected]