The Last 2 Degrees | Teen Ink

The Last 2 Degrees

December 6, 2015
By literarynongenius SILVER, South Carolina, South Carolina
literarynongenius SILVER, South Carolina, South Carolina
8 articles 0 photos 4 comments

The world is forever changing. New discoveries are made, breakthroughs are achieved by mere accidents, goals are reached unexpectedly, and miracles occur right before your eyes. Change covers the world like words on a page, and it weaves the loose threads and stitches of time's quilted story. Sometimes the potentiality of these changes is overlooked, and the consequences are not weighed. 

Climate change: it's not a myth or a hoax. It is a real issue that is transforming the course of life to a downhill spiral. Factories and industries have been emitting a substantial amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, causing the earth’s temperature to increase. Not only this, but the global sea level is rising, ice-caps are melting, and disastrous weather is brewing. Global warming allows more heat waves to occur, and these heat waves are detrimental to one’s health. In fact, extreme heat can cause stroke and other fatalities. A rise in sea level creates flooding, and the acidity in the ocean’s water kills crops. In colder biomes, animals that rely on the low temperature to survive are more likely to perish. Hurricanes need water vapor to form, and greenhouse gases include water vapor. An increase of evaporated water means more thermal energy to cover the earth’s surface, and more hurricanes. Clearing out forests and burning fossil fuels has contributed to the now 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. If there is a 2 degrees Celsius increase, the planet’s heat could cause massive extinction.

This is truly an epidemic that needs to be addressed by you and I when we carry out their daily routine. Being environmentally cautious and standing up in the fight against climate change can help us avoid that 2 degree mark. As for large corporations, using alternative energy sources and natural gases, and limiting industrialization evidently will impact the environment positively. 

 

There is no time to waste. 


The author's comments:

Climate change is an environmental epidemic that must be tackled immediately. Given that there is now a record high of 400 ppm of Co2 in the atmosphere, and a mere 2 degrees Celsius difference could change the world as we know it, we need to recognize that this is a real problem. 


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