Climate Change

by Benjamin Lyu

A polar bear is searching for food on the sea ice for seals. It has to eat enough food before all the ice melted in the summer, which meant they could no longer hunt. The polar bear has to wait for 5 months before it can hunt again when the sea freezes. But in the past 50 years, the global temperature has increased by 1 degree Celsius, and the amount of sea ice decreased by half. If the sea ice disappears, the polar bears will start disappearing too. There are lots of other animal species like the polar bear that are also facing extinction. According to CNN, 70,000 species are facing extinction due to climate change. You may hear about climate change everywhere, on television, in newspapers, or in conversations with your friends. Climate change affects us significantly. Climate change and global warming can also cause more severe weather, increased drought, rising oceans, food shortages, as well as poverty and displacement.

First of all, what is climate change? Climate change is when the weather pattern of a place changes dramatically. It is caused when too much CO2 and other gases are exposed to the atmosphere. These gases are called greenhouse gases. These gases prevent heat from escaping the earth, which results in global warming. These gases can be produced by generating power, manufacturing goods, transporting food, and powering buildings. We are also cutting down lots of trees; according to the United Nations, about 12 million hectares of forest are cut down every year. This is significant because trees can absorb carbon dioxide, but cutting down all those trees reduces the natural process of removing CO2.

We talked about how manufacturing goods can cause global warming. But recently, lots of companies have taken part in helping this crisis. Do you hate those paper straws they give you at McDonald's, Tim Hortons, or Burger King? They are taking action to help reduce CO2 emissions by reducing the production of plastic. Other companies are also leading the fight against climate change; for example, the outdoor apparel company, Patagonia. It might be surprising, but in the fall of 1992, Patagonia started using organic cotton and recycled materials. In 2011, Patagonia also made its “Don’t buy this jacket” campaign to discourage buyers from purchasing too many of its products. Isn’t it insane that they are trying to stop you from buying their products? But the story doesn’t just stop there. Patagonia also gives 1% of their sales to help preserve and restore the natural environment. There are also a lot of other companies like Patagonia. They play a big part in not just contributing to making a change, but they are also inspiring more people to take action. We are all so worried because the earth is warming up faster than we’ve ever experienced and recorded in history. So we have to do something before it’s too late. To make a change as individuals, we can spread the word and shop locally and sustainably. Spreading the word can help because it could tell more people about it and inspire them to take action. Shopping local and sustainably is also very significant to help because it could not just limit the carbon emissions due to transportation, but could also support your local farms. Just turning off the unnecessary lights in your room for one hour could save 0.04 kWh. That may seem like very little energy, right? But if everyone in the world turns off unnecessary lights for one hour, it could save 320,000,000 kWh of lights. That’s a lot of energy! The generation of that much energy produces so much greenhouse gases. This shows that even if everyone does a little bit to help, it can make a big change.

To conclude, climate change is something that we should definitely start worrying about. This could impact us, animals, and the Earth significantly. That’s why we should start doing what we can to provide a safe and healthy planet for future generations. I think there is still lots of time for us to do things differently, think about the consequences of the irresponsible actions we’re doing to this planet, and most importantly, make a change as individuals.