Climate change conflict
To the Editor:
Coral reefs with colors like rainbows, fading into rain clouds on a gloomy evening. Stretching trees, standing tall with leaves as green as the rind of a ripe watermelon, just to become mounds of coal-black ash caused by wildfires. Some may call it unfortunate fate, but the truth behind this so-called malediction is simple. Climate change. Firstly, there are many varieties of pollution that society has been using against mother nature for years. This man-made pollution is the reason why when you go on your beach vacation, the sea turtles that were there have been replaced with a happy family of plastic water bottles. Next, due to climate change natural disasters are becoming more frequent and critical.
In the following, you will read that climate change is one of our world’s biggest conflicts and it bugs me a lot that it exists in the first place. First and foremost, the number one reason why the earth is affected by climate change is the pollution that humanity led to creating. Think of it this way, people have been spoiling our planet for so long that scientists made names of the ways people can destroy it. Some of these kinds of pollution include air pollution, light pollution, water pollution, plastic pollution, litter (yes, it is a form of pollution), noise pollution, and many more.
If that doesn’t surprise you, hear this: Since the year 1970, the overall animal population has decreased significantly by 70%. In summary, all of the climate change-related problems our earth is facing are due to more recent things such as factories, cars, and the increasing amount of litter in the last 30-40 years. As you could have guessed, these things are harmful pollutants to this Earth. As the heat rises, penguins are traveling to new areas of Antarctica that were once considered inhabitable because of the extreme coldness.
Putting it shortly, as global warming continues, cold-weather animals are having to move to even colder areas which is a problem because, at some point, they will have nowhere to go. To quote Franklin D. Roosevelt, “A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself.” This statement shows that when you dump pollution and litter out of your house to make it cleaner, you further destroy your real home: this planet.
Secondly, weathering changes because of climate change on the Earth has become a massive problem. The temperature in New Jersey has risen by 3 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 1.6 Celsius.) This may not seem like a lot, but pollution has made it warm enough to toss that extra thin blanket to the football game. Some differences in the climate include strong hurricanes in the wintertime, wildfires in unusual places, and much more thunderstorms. Unlike all of these deadly disasters, and just because droughts don’t exactly obliterate houses, doesn’t mean they can’t be as fatal, and global warming isn’t exactly helping with the situation. According to EDF, the excess heat from global warming absorbs the moisture in the soil and dries the ground even more than usual until all that is left is dirt-like stale bread crumbs.
In Angola, 24-year-old Ana Leonilde spends hours in a collapsed clay well searching for even just drops of water, containing salty grains of rock, mud, and not to mention all of the bacteria. From day to day, she tells her two children, “Here, you have to keep fighting for water or you don’t drink or eat.” Not only are droughts providing larger consequences due to the change in the climate; Johann Hari states, “There is an emerging scientific consensus that global warming is making hurricanes more intense and more destructive. It turns out that Katrina fits into a pattern that scientists and greens have been trying to warn us about for a long time.”
Finally, some people may think “Sure, a couple of animals are going extinct, but why should I care?” or “I don’t live in an area with a lack of rainfall, so it doesn’t matter.” However, if the amounts of litter and pollution continue at this rate, drastic measures might have to be taken. Based on what I read, in certain areas around the world oxygen kits will be necessary to breathe safely and avoid things such as severe allergies, acid rain, bronchitis, cardiovascular diseases, lung issues, and more by the year 2030.
If you still aren’t concerned about long-term diseases, superlative natural disasters, extreme heatwaves, and loads of animals dying all because of climate change, you might want to think twice about clicking the “buy now” button on that new and extravagant Chanel bag. It seems that more droughts and heavy rains caused because of climate change puts a higher demand on crops and livestock. Though some vegetables and grains may not seem like a lot, animals produce things such as meats, eggs, cheese, and milk. What will happen when those animals starve to death or die of dehydration because of droughts? I’ll wait.
I suppose that in a few years or decades, we’ll all be surviving off of powdered soup. Additionally, it’s predicted that as global warming rises and the summers grow hotter, the winters become cooler, and we rely on air conditioning and heat rays, electricity bills will pile up like the stacks of cash you’re throwing away. Not to mention as more climate-caused natural disasters appear, it’ll cost more money in house damages and repairs.
While some scientists say as of right now, we have only 8 years to fix climate change, others say what’s done is done. I believe that society could reverse climate change and global warming, but not enough people will try to turn it around and save our planet. World-renowned scientist, and documentary filmmaker, David Attenborough states, “There is no going back - no matter what we do now, it’s too late to avoid climate change and the poorest, the most vulnerable, those with the least security, are now certain to suffer.” On the other hand, as of 2019, Bernie Sanders said that “We now have less than 11 years left to transform our energy system away from fossil fuels to energy efficiency and sustainable energy, if we are going to leave this planet healthy and habitable.”
As you can see, climate change and global warming vex me, and we should be trying to change it as soon as possible. Many varieties of pollution have affected our planet. Second of all, humans ruin this Earth, and as a result, more extreme weathering and not-so-natural disasters occur. Lastly, many people have said that global warming and climate change do not matter because it doesn’t affect them. However, pollution can over time lead to diseases and loss of lots of money for every person, anywhere. What I hope you can take away from this is that even though plastic can’t break down, our planet can.
Leia Lovett
Fifth Grade, Helen Morgan School
Sparta