I remember finally being able to go skiing for the first time in the winter. Looking forward to a day full of fun, I arrived at a mountain full of puddles. Full of tears, disappointment, and anger-I ultimately never got to ski that day nor many times that year. I am sick to my stomach and out of breath telling people to stop burning fuels and to quit using gas-powered vehicles. That is why I am present here today. Have you ever heard of global warming? If not, this phenomenon occurs when gases become trapped in the atmosphere due to fuel emissions, greenhouse gases, and more-which cause the planet to warm due to the sun UV rays not being able to escape into space. Global warming is making me extremely angry, and if humans do not stop their actions as soon as possible, future generations will vaporize due to wildfires, sandstorms, and extreme heat waves. Hello, my name is Savva Stetsyuk and today I will be talking about the ways that global warming occurs, as well as its solutions.
First of all, I will be defining what causes global warming. The biggest reason for global warming is greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are gases that absorb the energy from the floor of the Earth and stay in the Earth’s atmosphere for a long time, trapping sun rays and causing the planet to warm. A few of these gases include carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, fluorinated gases-which are powerful gases that come from households and commercial factories-and nitrous oxide.
In addition, another reason for global warming is deforestation. Trees have a cycle of taking in carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, and filtering it into oxygen which allows humans to breathe. Not only does this make for cleaner and more plentiful air for us to breathe, it also allows the atmosphere to be cleaner and cooler. Unfortunately, humans have been ruining this beautiful cycle of nature and chopping down trees to make room for industrial centers. This not only eliminates the cycle trees have on creating oxygen, but the industrial centers such as factories use up even more electricity as well as burn fossil fuels! This is another big reason for global warming and another big impact humans make on the Earth.
Lastly, another reason for global warming which I will be talking about today is industrial activity. Humans have been burning fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum to fuel cities and rural areas. Unfortunately, these fossil fuels also cloud up the atmosphere, warming up the planet.
Fortunately, many governments in areas such as Europe have been trying to decrease and even eliminate their footprint on the planet for many more future generations to come! Although this is wonderful, countries like the United States-as quoted by current president Donald Trump-have said “We will drill baby, drill”.
Luckily, there are ways to stop global warming, even if we cannot retrace our steps. Firstly, people must spread the word. Encouraging family and friends to reduce their global footprint can be a good way to reduce climate change and human impact on Earth.
Furthermore, joining an organization that spreads the word such as Count Us In, who aims to find 1 billion climate activists can be a beneficial strategy to teach many of the impacts of humans in the world to those who are innocent in what they know of their actions-but killers in what they do. Count Us In shared that if 1 billion people would join together, they could reduce as much as 20% of global carbon emissions. Carbon emissions control the amount of gas in the atmosphere, which controls the temperature on the ground. Think of how many less people could die a year due to heat waves and wildfires and all the people that could be saved just for speaking up!
In addition, people should transform their transport. Transportation of humans accounts for roughly a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions. Fortunately, many governments around the world are implementing greenhouse gas reduced transportation such as walking, cycling, or public transport (Same amount of greenhouse gases as in a car but many more people could be transported). In addition, electric vehicles could be a preferable option, as they release zero greenhouse gasses. Although many could argue that electricity comes from greenhouse gas releasing power plants, and the vehicle must be charged, much less gas is released into the atmosphere compared to constantly driving a gas vehicle like a flamethrower.
Lastly, people should shop local. In order to reduce food’s carbon footprint, people should buy local and seasonal foods. Small businesses would be supported and fossil fuels would decrease-which is a kind of fuel that releases those gases I spoke about earlier into the atmosphere-due to transportation and cold storage involved in commercial farms. According to unep.org, local and sustainable agriculture uses about 56% less energy, and creates 64% fewer emissions than commercial farms.
Adding on, climate activists believe that growing a personal or community garden can be a further step forward to reduce emissions and keep the planet safe.
Although global warming is a horrible thing, many people still have the twisted opinion that other generations do not matter and that going electric and not using current industrial strategies could destroy what humans have developed now and what humans are planning to develop. Although this may seem like a big deal, humans vaporizing and going extinct is infinitely worse.
In conclusion, humans are destroying the planet by burning fossil fuels, releasing greenhouse gases, and slowly burning everybody to a crisp. If nothing is stopped, there will be more sand storms, heat waves, wildfires, canceled events, and more. Many of which could end some lives today, and without a doubt in the future. As I once thought, the world is like a bomb slowly ticking away hoping somebody would notice its whereabouts before it is too late.
Savva Stetsyuk – Loyola Academy – DMSF Class of 2029
Photo Credit: BPawesome – Adobe Stock