It is the year 2019, the internet rules the world and yet we don’t use it for the right reasons. With everyone walking around with that cellular device in their hand and they are using it to check twitter or maybe even facebook to see what other people are up to. Even with the internet, people don’t seem to see the world around is slowly coming to a devastating end because of whom else but ourselves. Our beautiful home Earth is coming to an end and the world knows, but yet the same daily routines that most humans make which includes no recycling, continuing to waste water, destroying nature, and most of all, people aren’t doing anything to help our world go green even when we have one of the best inventions known to man, which is a cellular device.
When I open up my device every morning, I have a daily routine of opening up my phone and seeing what is going on in the world, I see a young teenager on the stand speaking to a huge crowd of adults on my Instagram. I wonder to myself what does this teenager have to say to this huge amount of people for them to even want to listen to this person. Me being the person I am, I dig up information on this speaker. Her name is Chloe Kim, she is an Olympic snowboarder and she says “ I’m so terrified that one day, when I have a family, my kids are going to be like ‘Mom what’s snow?’ She also says that the snow has brought her and her family many adventures and wants to experience those adventures with her own kids, but won’t be able be able to with our world’s climate crisis coming closer and closer every year. She brings her speech to a close with “I know people won’t listen, but let’s make them listen”. It’s kind of crazy how I see more teenagers, the people who contributed less to the world’s crisis, doing the most to save their home Earth and the people who contributed most of our worlds destruction laid back thinking to themselves “Well, it doesn’t matter because i’m not going to be alive when it happens”. People have been using social media to spread awareness with the #GlobalClimateStike and using social media for this, is one step for us humans to take action for our home.
Global Warming, not much people know what this is, but according to Google the definition of Global Warming is the gradual increase in the overall temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants. In the book Global and Planetary Change by Mr. Nordell, he claims that we need to “maintain Earth’s thermal equilibrium”(Nordell)., but to do that “there must be a net outflow equal to the geothermal heat flow”(Nordell). To start the process of ending global warming, starts in your home, garage, kitchen, and even at your dining room table. Starting at your home, people have the basic utility electric companies in their home that aren’t nearly the same as the certified companies that are certified by Green-e Energy. Utility companies that are certified by Green-e energy generate at least half its power from wind or solar.
According to the article, “How You Can Stop Global Warming”, to begin the path of stopping Global Warming investing in energy-efficient appliances is the way to go. Since 1987, according to Mr. Haq, efficiency standards for dozens of appliances and products have kept about 2.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide out of the air, and that is about the same amount as the annual carbon pollution coughed up by nearly 440 cars. Mr. Haq claims that “ Energy efficiency is the lowest-cost way to reduce emissions”(Haq). When shopping for those home appliances like refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, and other appliances, look for the Energy Star label, when looking at that Energy Star label it will tell you which of the home appliances are most efficient. Pulling the plugs and buying better light bulbs is the next step of putting an end to Global Warming.
When buying better light bulbs, not only does it save you money, but it is better light and better for the world. LED light bulbs use up to 80 percent less energy than the conventional emission of light as the result of being heated, in better words conventional incandescent light bulbs. A 10-watt LED that replaces your traditional 60-watt bulb will save you about one hundred and twenty five dollars over the light bulbs life according to Mrs. Denchank, the writer of “ How You Can Stop Global Warming”. Looking at myself, I know that I have all sorts of technology in my house and for it to be used it needs to be plugged in to work. So taken together all the outlets in your home is about 65 devices that are plugged in on the daily. With all those devices combined with everybody’s else’s devices, it adds up to about 50 large power plants in the United States according Mrs. Denchank. So to start off unplug the ones that are being rarely used and sacrifice for the greater good because one person makes a difference.
Next, the world cuts down about 3.5 to 7 billion trees a year, according to The Understory, an article from the Rainforest Action Network. It is no secret that planting trees helps the environment, besides producing oxygen and removing carbon dioxide and also removing contaminants in the air, trees have many other economic and environmental benefits. According to The Understory, Co2 is one of the major contributing elements to the greenhouse effect. Trees trap Co2 from the atmosphere and make carbohydrates that are used for plant growth and for that they give us oxygen in return. According to ColoradoTree.org on the article “Why Plant A Tree?”, about 800 million tons of carbon are stored in the trees that make up the urban forests in the United States. So because of this can be a savings of 22 billion dollars in control costs. According to The Understory, mature trees can absorb roughly 48 pounds of Co2 a year, therefore the tree in turn releases enough oxygen to sustain two human beings.
In conclusion, I argue to take a stand in our world not for anybody here, but for the future. I might not be able to make a change for the better alone, but together we can make a change. Me who should be writing about other problems in this world, here I am arguing the topic of how US humans can make a change for our home. Alone we are nothing, but together we can make a change for us and for the future. All it takes is changing the little things.
Work Cited
-Denchak, Melissa. “How You Can Stop Global Warming.” NRDC, 22 Aug. 2019, https://www.nrdc.org/stories/how-you-can-stop-global-warming.
-Nordell, Bo. “Thermal pollution causes global warming.” Global and planetary change 38.3-4 (2003): 305-312. -Rainforest Action Network. “How Many Trees Are Cut down Every Year? – The Understory.” Rainforest Action Network, 15 Aug. 2018, www.ran.org/the-understory/how_many_trees_are_cut_down_every_year/.
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