This is an essay that I worked on for my 5th grade school assignment:
Think about the Earth in fifty years, or even one hundred, a fireball of a planet all because of climate change. It is our biggest challenge. Climate change will destroy our planet Earth, and we may be at the point of no return.
The primary cause of climate change is greenhouse gases that come from various sources like industry, vehicles, and agriculture. Animals like cows and sheep release large amounts of methane gas, which in turn negatively affects our climate.
Believe it or not, our planet is definitely changing, and it might not be for the better. In my opinion, climate change is ruining our planet. Let us consider the fact that our way of life is changing, and future generations will feel this ripple. That recycled water bottle a day is not really helping, and what we need is a radical plan. This should include reducing our current emissions, removing accumulated stock of CO2 from the past, and changing our way of life going forward.
When it comes to climate change, it has a wide array of effects and consequences. The incidents of extreme weather have increased i.e. hurricanes, tornadoes, heat waves, extreme cold polar vortexes, and droughts. Firstly, with climate models from scientists, they’ve predicted that extreme weather will become more recurrent. In fact, NASA research shows that since 1950, the U.S. has received increasing numbers of high rainfall events. In particular, average U.S. precipitation has increased since 1900, and some areas have had bigger increases than our national average. In other words, hurricanes have had increased frequency, intensity and duration since the late 1980s. Additionally, extreme droughts and heat will also be more common, occurring every 2 to 3 years instead of the usual 20 years. Thus, climate change affects our weather patterns and makes extreme weather cases more common.
One of the most prominent effects of climate change is sea level rise. Heed these following warnings: According to NASA, global sea level has risen 8 inches in the past century. This has also been proven by the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Specifically, in 2014, the Global Sea Level was 2.6 inches above the average in 1993. This is dangerous because flooding has also become 300 to 900 percent more frequent in our coastal communities than 50 years ago. Yearly statistics are a different story; for instance, every year, the sea level rises ⅛ of an inch, and that can very well increase. Additionally, with the warming of our seas, sea level can rise even more. We can conclude that global sea level is on the rise and is becoming more and more frequent each year.
Everybody wastes gas or fuel, maybe by leaving the heat on for more than an hour, and others are also wasting gas by leaving their car idle, etc. The point is, our world is getting warmer and it is melting our ice, anywhere from the North pole to the South, or maybe even to Greenland. For instance, both National Geographic and NOAA weather stations and reports have shown that in 2016, temperatures have gone up 1.69 degrees from the twentieth century, making 2016 one of the hottest years. In particular, NASA has also concluded that Greenland has lost 286 billion tons of ice per year from 1993 to 2016. Specifically, they also show that Antarctica has lost 127 billion tons of ice in the same time period. To put all of this into perspective, Earth’s average surface temperature has risen about 1.62 degrees since the late 19th century. When you take these numbers into account, they may seem very little, but they have long-lasting effects which wither our planet even more. Our Earth is getting blasted with heat by
As we burn fuel and produce carbon dioxide, we all know our atmosphere is suffering. Lastly, our oceans are both acidifying and suffering, too. In the first place, according to PMEL, every year, the ocean absorbs a quarter of the CO2 we release into the atmosphere. Put simply, the more gas and fuel we are putting into the air, the more we are putting in our waters. Additionally, since the beginning of America’s Industrial Revolution till now, our oceans pH (acidity) levels have fallen by 0.1, which means a 30% increase in acidity. This proves that at the end of the century, ocean acidity levels will have increased by 150%. We depend on our fish and sea life for food, and ocean acidification affects both our food and sea life. In fact, ocean acidification has significantly reduced the ability for coral reefs to build their skeletons. For example, ocean acidification also brings the risk of compromising fertilization and the survival of other species. Also, there have been failures of developing oysters all around the West Coast, which is caused by ocean acidification. Our coral reefs, like the great coral reef in Australia, are disappearing because of ocean acidification.
We can all see that our planet is suffering and getting ravaged by mankind’s own hand, so we should work together to stop. Not just for our future, but for the future of Earth too. This is my generations’ call to action, and I believe we can stop this if we put our mind to it.
-Shaurya