TOO MUCH CHANGE IS NOT A GOOD THING. ASK THE CLIMATE. - MICHAEL SCOTT
We have entered an age where the earth is getting hotter than young Leonardo DiCaprio. Did I get your attention? Good. I am most certain that, by now, you’ve heard recent news about California droughts, Amazonian rainforest fires, countless hurricanes and other natural disasters. These tragedies, and the climate change crisis they represent, have become the greatest threat to our species. Whether we are ready or not, it is time to educate ourselves on this topic and confront it with full force. For starters, we need to understand that global warming is the primary cause of climate change. The earth keeps itself warm by trapping the sun’s heat in its atmosphere, a phenomenon known as the greenhouse effect. Without this natural process, Earth’s average temperature would be about -18°C — an uncomfortable temperature for any life to prosper. Throughout the industrial era, humans have maximized the greenhouse effect by releasing harmful gases into the atmosphere, capturing more heat than necessary
and ultimately leading to global warming. Whenever we burn fossil fuels for generating electricity, driving cars, heating, factories etc., the emission of carbon dioxide into the air drastically increases. This gas is, by far, the most problematic one of all when it comes to global warming. Along with the increase in greenhouse gases, factors like overpopulation, deforestation, and the destruction of marine ecosystems are also huge causes of global warming. With the population skyrocketing, the demand for fossil fuels has driven carbon rates to dangerous levels — threatening the atmosphere and our health. In contrast to humans, trees and other plants “breathe in” carbon dioxide and “breathe out” oxygen, which makes them natural carbon sinks. This means they can absorb carbon from the air and transform it into oxygen through photosynthesis, subtly decreasing amounts of the harmful gas. But because the population is growing so fast, countries have been rapidly cutting down forests to make room for growing communities, and we’ve been going through natural resources at alarming rates with nothing to help us filter out the harmful carbon. So let me make this clear: Burnings fossil fuels + getting rid of trees = an excess amount of carbon. Without trees, mother nature does have a backup plan: coral reefs. The ocean absorbs 50% of carbon amounts, but when it reaches its limit, the ocean acidifies and kills the reef and all of its inhabitants. In addition to this, as the land gets warmer, so does the sea and when the sea gets warm, the coral reefs start bleaching and die off. Which means: Burning fossil fuels + getting rid of trees + killing coral reefs = global warming.
Keeping this equation in mind, climate change has affected us, not only by temperature, but by manipulating the way the earth moves around us. Ice caps have been melting, water levels rising, and oceans gradually swallowing up land. The Maldives, for instance, is a tropical nation that has been feeling the wrath of global warming recently. With the highest elevation at about 8 feet above sea level, The Maldives is predicted to be the world’s first country to Illustration by Kyra Jan Cruz sink because of climate change. 16 | Fall 2019
But this isn’t humanity’s first rodeo with a global environmental crisis. In 1987, a global agreement, known as the Montreal Protocol, was successfully passed to protect the stratospheric ozone layer from deteriorating as a result of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons (unreactive gaseous compounds of carbon with bromine and other halogens). I may not be an environmental scientist, but I can sure say that our future is not looking too good. Typically, global crises like this should be handled professionally by governmental leaders as seen through the Montreal Protocol. But in our case, our country’s leadership refuses to address the situation. So instead the youth across the world are taking a stand. Greta Thunberg, a determined 16 year old girl from Sweden, has recently dedicated her entire life to saving the earth. She has been working hard to promote ways to care for the earth, including sailing across the Atlantic Ocean to avoid the emission of harmful chemicals that come from airplane travel. Beyond that, she and her family have made simple changes into their lives to reduce their own carbon footprints, including giving up air travel and not eating meat. And like Thunberg, there are many ways YOU can help reduce your carbon footprint too! To avoid directly burning fossil fuels, we can find other efficient ways of transportation, including carpooling, riding a bike, taking the bus, or even walking to our destinations. We can also save electricity by turning off lights when they’re not in use, changing to energy efficient light bulbs, or going solar altogether. Of course, some of these things take an awful lot of investment, like saving up for an electric car or buying a reusable water bottle instead of using single-use plastics. More than that, it can be as simple as planting a tree and speaking out in your communities. No matter how old you are, what color your skin is, or what your socioeconomic status is, your voice matters. And every action you take now protects and preserves the earth so that future generations - our children and grandchildren - can enjoy our beautiful planet. “We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” - David Brower by Melissa Andrade