The “10 year challenge” has been sweeping social media with people posting pics of themselves in 2009 versus 2019. The results have been everything from adorable to hysterical, but a new set of pictures are popping up to show a more somber side to what can happen in a decade — the terrifyingly rapid changes in our environment. Environmental activists and scientists are using the challenge to highlight a very real concern — the dramatic changes to our planet. If you read the news, it’s no surprise to hear, but seeing the images side-by-side puts another, more depressing lens on the issue. According to Business Insider, 2018 was the hottest year on record for the world’s oceans (and are heating up 40 percent faster than previously thought), sea levels are rising, coral reefs (and the ecosystems they support) are being wiped out, and Antarctic ice is melting at a faster rate than in previous years (six times faster than in the 1980s). Glaciologists think half of Switzerland’s small glaciers will be eradicated within the next 25 years, according to Reuters. Credit: NOW THIS
