The past couple days there has been a petition circulating the Washington University community demanding the cancellation of school. As the petition claims, it is just simply too cold and dangerous. That argument would certainly stand in Chicago or Minneapolis. But here, I’m not so sure. An undergrad myself, I certainly can understand where this request is coming from. It is freezing; students look for any excuse to miss class. The intersection of these two produces the perfect opportunity. But this petition also troubles me on a variety of levels.

First off, do you not realize how much money this school costs? Let me tell you: it’s a lot of money. We complain every year when the tuition increase is announced, yet the number suddenly disappears from mind as soon as a discussion of missing class arises.

Let’s just do some basic math. The semester rate for an undergrad is currently $26,200. That is solely tuition. It does not include books, housing, student activities fee, ect. By my count, there are 69 days of class this semester. Now if my computer calculator is correct, $26,200 divided by 69 is $379.71. I’m sorry, let me repeat that. It costs us $379.71 a day to attend this school. It is true that you could calculate a slightly different number based on classes or credits, but it should all round out to the same figure. For every day the University theoretically cancels classes, you lose nearly $400. I’ll let that sink in.

However, discussing the petition’s financial implications is not the main point. This is: Wash. U., I am writing to tell you to suck it up. Californians, go buy a coat. Missourians, go buy a thicker coat. Alaskans, settle in, because it’s about to get very familiar. As the great Margo Channing once advised, “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night.”

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but here’s the thing: This extreme weather is not going away. In fact, it’s only getting worse. Our planet is approaching the point of no return. The United Nation Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently warned us that we have about 12 years to limit the rise of global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius. If the events in Paris, Washington, D.C. and Katowice, Poland have demonstrated anything, it’s that our policy makers are approaching the issue with a pace of a 120 years.

Now as I am typing this I can already hear some of you yelling at me. “But the report speaks of global warming, the freezing temperatures certainly disprove that.” Yes, OK, put the snowball down Senator Inhofe. You are correct in your observation. The weather today probably is not warmer than the weather on this day a year ago. But there is a difference between weather and climate. There is also a difference between regional and global climate. Your snowball represents the temperature at a single instance in a single city. Global warming and climate change are concerned with all 197 million square miles of our planet 365 days a year.

I would love to have a more in-depth discussion with you about the scientific implications of climate change, but this article is not the time nor place. What I will tell you is this. The UN IPCC warns that as earth continues to warm, the weather patterns will further polarize. Droughts, fires, poverty and famines will perpetuate. Millions of people will suffer and die. Don’t believe them? That’s fine, by 2040 we’ll know who is right.

What can we do? Well, for one thing, we can go to class. Go study sustainability, discuss the science of climate change, experiment with alternative fuels. Gain the skills and experience necessary to make sustainable change within your pursued industry. Continue to make a conscious effort in your daily life. We live in a region powered 80 percent by coal; turn off the lights. But the biggest thing, use your voice. Yes, we can reduce carbon dioxide by biking, but real change must be enacted on a larger political and economic level. So elect officials that endorse the Green New Deal, support companies that preach sustainability, demand that our own university divest from fossil fuels.

In closing, I will leave with a few words from my own personal idol, 16 year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. Thunberg spoke last month at the UN COP24 in Katowice. As she concluded her remarks, she confidently told the hundreds of powerful world officials gathered: “We have come here to let you know that change is coming, whether you like it or not. The real power belongs to the people.” The power belongs to you. But instead of canceling class, there is a greater issue that demands your attention.