FTP final draft
Climate change is an issue that is putting 1,000,000 species at risk of extinction, and the effects could not be reversible by 2030. This means that it is important to change and to change quickly. Many people do not care about climate change due to not being able to see the difference in their lives and they won’t be around long enough to see any more major changes. Almost everyone has someone they care about that will live longer than them and will be able to see more changes to the earth.
Our climate is changing at a rapid rate that is not normal to our planet. Through experiments done on ice that froze hundreds of thousands of years ago scientists found that the co2 levels in our atmosphere rose above 300 parts per million. Currently our planet has 410 parts per million and it is rising fast. The Ice Sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are melting quickly too. Between 1993 and 2019 Greenland and Antarctia lost 427,000 tons of ice per year. All of this means that our planet is becoming harder to live for many plants and animals. Due to the increase in carbon dioxide in the ocean the levels of protein of fish is decreasing which means less cheap and abundant source of protein for so many people around the world. Also in the last century the ocean has risen 8 inches which is double what it did the previous century and it is still increasing every year. Cities like Miami and Amsterdam will be flooded, all of those families will have to move and businesses will have to shut down or relocate. Everyone should care about our Earth because it is the only planet we have and it is getting worse for everyone.
I know that my Grandparents want the best for me and their other Grandchildren. I would think that that is true for almost everyone. There are also things that threaten Humans due to climate change. There has been an increasing amount of severe storms such as hurricanes because of climate change. Between 2016 and 2019 252 people lost their lives in the United States because of hurricanes. Also thousands and thousands of people have damage to their homes and neighborhoods because of hurricanes. These harsh storms will only get worse and the climate starts to get worse. The increase in heat with our climate changing means that there are record setting temperatures more often than ever. This means drought and dry foliage. With dryer leaves and trees the flames move quicker, more people lose their homes and their lives. And for people more fortunate not to be in the fire still see the consequences of the fires all along the west coast there were air quality warnings because of the smoke and people weren’t able to exercise and enjoy the outdoors. All of this means that the standard of living in those places will go down. All of this is why everyone for themselves and for the sake of others should do their part in trying to slow down our climate change.
One refutation that people have is that they should not care due to them not being able to see the difference in the climate since they have been alive and they will not be around long enough to see anymore change. I do not think that this is a fair assessment of what is happening because of what is happening with air quality issues and severe weather which are very obvious. Also everyone wants the best for their kids and when you do nothing to save our planet it jeopardizes their ability to live in a happy and healthy way. Another argument against why they should care about climate change is that they can not see the difference in their daily lives. This may be due to where they live. The MidWest has much less problems than coasts in terms of being able to see the difference of climate change. We do not have the big weather events like the east coast or the fires like on the west coast. This is when you have to look at things like when we do not have snow on the ground for much of the winter. All of this is why you can see climate change differences in our daily lives.
Wanting to have breathable air, and a safe place to live for your kids and grandkids is why everyone no matter how long you have left should care about climate change. Changing simple easy things in your day to day life will make that goal happen.
Works cited:
“ 5 climate change facts to scare you into action this Halloween | Earth Day .” Earth Day: The Official Site | Earth Day Network . Web. 7 Dec 2020. <http://www.earthday.org/5-terrifying-climate-change-facts-scare-halloween/>.
“Evidence | Facts — Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet.” NASA: Climate Change and Global Warming. Web. 7 Dec 2020. <http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/>.
