Summary:
Discusses the environmental issue of global warming. Encourages conservation and environmental activism.
Technology. None of it would have occurred if there hadn't been major technological advances during the last century. Cars, lawnmowers, factories-they're all suspects in this crime of the century. In fact, every machine invented since the Industrial Revolution has been a major contributor to the case. The year is 2050 and all of these devices are on trial for murder. Murder of whom, you ask? Murder of Mother Earth.
I am an energy abuser. I leave the lights on when I leave the room. I leave the T.V. on when I am done. I keep the air conditioner on, instead of opening a window. And when I drive, I like to speed and waste as much gas as possible. Why do I do these things? That's simple: it makes my life easier, more fun, and it's not my money being put to waste. But I know that I'm not the only person being lazy. My friends do the same things; so do my parents, my teammates, my neighbors, and even my teachers. We see a solution that is the easiest to utilize and we take it. So why should we care, if everyone is doing it? Because every time you turn on your car, leave those lights on, or just burn something, you have just contributed to Earth's downfall. More specifically, you have just added to the global warming crisis that will someday kill you or your children.
So just what is global warming? Though the scientific explanation is extremely technical and would confuse even the average reader, it essentially says that there are too many carbon-based materials-namely carbon dioxide gas-going into the air. These wastes are letting the sun heat our planet, but then they do not let the heat escape back into space. Sources of "greenhouse wastes" include vehicle exhaust, factory emissions, deforestation, and any other burnings of fossil fuels. This "greenhouse effect" is gradually trapping more and more heat within our planet's atmosphere.Global warming isn't a new problem. However, it wasn't until recently that the effects were noticeable. Scientists have determined that in the last century, the average temperature around the world increased by 0.5-1.5 F. Though this was a gradual climb, the 20th century's 10 warmest years occurred during the last 15 years of that century. Many notable scientists, particularly at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, have also estimated that "increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases are likely to accelerate the rate of climate change" in the approaching years. More specifically, they predict a 4.5 F rise in temperature during the next 50 years and a 10 F rise in temperature during the next 100 years("Global Warming" 2).
While it may seem that 4.5 or 10 degrees is hardly a noticeable increase, that would mean that an average day in California would range in the high 80s compared to the 70s and the hottest days would be well into the 100s compared to the 90s.
Yet personal comfort is hardly the most significant issue of global warming. The increased temperatures could be devastating to agriculture as well as the rest of the environment. Increased temperatures will cause more frequent precipitation, which will affect and alter forests, crop yields, water supplies, and distinguishing features of many National Parks. It has even been hypothesized that "within a decade, the Earth could undergo an abrupt climate change, leading to longer, harsher winters in Europe and North America, massive droughts, forest fires, famine, shattered economies, and wars among survivors fighting over dwindling food and water supplies," all as a result of melting ice caps(Munro 1).
But none of this has to happen. It can all be stopped, or at least severely slowed down. By you. By me. And by everyone else in the world. It will be hard, but all that it will take are a few sacrifices by each and every one of us. We need to give up parts of our luxurious lives before the increasing heat renders our world useless. Currently the United States produces about 22 tons of carbon dioxide(a major component of the heat-trapping "greenhouse" layer), while the worldwide average is about 6 tons. If each of us could simply lower our water tanks' temperatures, insulate our houses better, buy energy efficient appliances, or car pool to work or school, we would each remove 12,280 pounds of carbon dioxide per year. Just in the United States, this would lower our emissions to less than three fourths of our current output(Monahan 1). And that isn't even the beginning. The U.S. government has been trying to appeal to the public for some time now, through the use of the Energy Star program in which buyers of low energy appliances are rewarded. But it isn't catching on. I believe it is because people just don't care enough.
The citizens of the United States, myself included, should feel ashamed at the way in which we treat our world. We have treated it as a dump, we have polluted it, and I don't think many people realize that it can never go back. At least with global warming we can slow it or catch it before it escalates to an even more severe problem. Sometimes we won't be so lucky. So next time you do something to hurt our environment, whatever it may be, you should stop for a moment and realize that once you do it, you cannot ever take it back.
This is the complete article, containing 898 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page).
