On Earth Day, a look at how temperatures in the Triangle, NC and US have changed since 1970

Happy Earth Day! April 22 is the day we stop and celebrate the Earth and all the progress that we have made over the past 52 years to raise awareness of issues surrounding our planet's health and wellbeing.

We have come a long way, but there is still so much more we can and need to do to protect our home, species and us!

We need to further realize that we have a huge impact on our home and we have the power to change it if we continue to change policy and awareness.

There are so many topics that still need our focus, from protecting our oceans, the honeybees and climate change.

The concentration of heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere continues to increase and has risen nearly 30% since our first Earth Day in 1970.

So how has warming changed since 1970 here in North Carolina and in the United States?

Let's first start in Raleigh, where we are 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than we were in 1970. N.C. as a whole is 2.4 degrees warmer than we were 52 years ago, and the U.S. is 2.6 degrees warmer.

For context, 2.6 degrees is very close to the global warming limit of 2.7 degrees that 196 countries, including the U.S., has agreed to pursue.

Take a look at data compiled by Climate Central, and you can see how each individual state has warmed over the past 52 years.

The colder climates are ones that are seeing the largest impacts of global warming, with the state of Alaska seeing the most significant warming -- a 4.3 degree rise.

There are so many statistics I could throw at you right now -- it would make your head spin -- but the bottom line is we need to do a better job at curbing emissions. We need to implement ways to mitigate climate change and do it quickly, because we are running out of time.