Zeynep Gizem ÇOBANOĞLU
THE NIGHTMARE: CLIMATE CHANGE
In the past 13 years, 10 have been the hottest ever recorded. That means: climate is not a lie, it is dangerous and it is oncoming. Cold places get warmer and warm places get colder because of the climate change. First of all, climate change will affect all of the species and all living things by changing balance of our planet. It will destroy wildlife and habitats. Climate change will bring us( humans) illnesses such as microbial diseases. This nightmare will be a head of the other disasters like extreme weather. We must end the climate in order to save our planet, save our future and nothing is impossible.
Greenhouse gases are the worst and the biggest problems that cause climate change. And greenhouse gases create a layer on the Earth’ s atmosphere and traps the heat inside the Earth. Methane, Carbon Dioxide, Nitrous Oxide and other gases constitute greenhouse gases. According to Environmental Protection Agency’ s( EPA) greenhouse gases chart, 76 % Carbon Dioxide, 16 % Methane, 6 % Nitrous Oxide and 2 % F-gases constitute greenhouse gases. We use greenhouse gases everyday by using fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are coal, petroleum, natural gas, oil etc. and they are nonrenewable they never disappear, they hide and they appear as endangered. For instance according to Live Strong,“ The pollution threatens the environment and its ecosystems. … Reducing the consumption of fossil fuels helps minimize the pollution and damage done by the use of fossil fuels.” This pollution helps to increase climate change. And methane, it doesn’ t constitute the big part of the greenhouse gases, but it contributes climate change a lot. Methane comes from too much fed animals, such as cows. For example according to Skeptical Science,“ … Livestock are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together.” It seems like living creatures have more power than machines or industrial things to make up greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases’ hazard is invisible.
This planet is meaningless without species and climate change is threatening for all living things. Humans cause climate change and they are vulnerable. They will get diseases while they are playing outdoors, drinking water, working outside etc. also elderly people, children and pregnant women etc. will get hurt because of the climate change. According to the EPA, humans’ sensitivity level will change, children will have health risks by playing outdoors, pregnant women will affect from heat waves, outdoor workers will be vulnerable from vector borne diseases. Human health will be endangered.
Also animals, such as North Pole animals will be under risk. Glacier will be melted and it started to melt. The whole North Pole is habitat of polar bears. And imagine that you don’ t have any place to live! Polar bears’ habitat will be completely destroyed and they will face with death because of the less food. For instance according to World Wildlife Fund( WWF),“ This is particularly serious for bears that are pregnant or nursing young, and for the cubs themselves. In Hudson Bay, scientists have found the main cause of death in cubs to be either lack of food or lack of fat on nursing mothers.” Dead polar bears increase the extinction. And wild animals will be the victims of the climate change. Pikas started to leave their habitats because they are so sensitive for overheating and they can die. Waterfowls are in danger too because their habitat is affected from high sea level. For example according to National Wildlife Federation( NWF),“ Critical waterfowl habitat of coastal marshes and estuaries along the Pacific Coast could be affected by sea-level rise, changes in inland precipitation patterns and a significant decline in average mountain snowpack.” These situations show us wildlife is facing with climate change right now. Our( species) lives are in danger.
Extreme weather is one of the most important fact of the climate change. First of all world’ s balance will change. This change will cause extreme weather like heat waves, floods, tsunamis, earthquakes etc.. Floods are oncoming and very possible to happen. High rain will rain because of the climate change and it can be very dangerous. According to WWF,“ Flooding can be disastrous. Houses can be destroyed, lives can be ruined, and wildlife threatened.” The life will stop with this disastrous event. And the other dangers are heat waves. We can describe them basically as abnormal weekly / daily hot weather. Heat waves can change the night-time temperature and also humidity level. For example according to Climate Communication,“ The combination of high humidity and high night-time temperature can make for a deadly pairing, offering no relief and posing a particular threat for the elderly.” Also this event is responsible for more death. Underwater will be affected from climate change too. The ocean acidification will happen. Ocean acidification makes oceans more acidic and it will hurt corals, shellfish and other underwater species. For instance according to National Geographic, Carbon Dioxide has been absorbed by the ocean and Carbon Dioxide is affecting life cycle and food chain. This shows us climate change started to affecting our oceans. We need to hurry, we don’ t want a future that doesn’ t know about fish!
From these examples, we can clearly see climate change is an important issue facing our planet. Climate change is hurting species and it will extinct them. We will see usual extreme weather. It will make us ill. And our future won’ t know about some natural things such as fish. It seems hopeless, but we have still got time and we have lot ' s of choices to help to end it. At first, we must spread the word to make others informed. We can start to eat less meat, for example we can eat vegetarian once a week. We can use non-plastic [ plastics made by petroleum( fossil-fuel)]. We can turn off electronic devices from their buttons or we can make plugged-in devices unplugged because these devices use carbon a lot. We can use public transportation vehicles or bikes to transport somewhere. We can also fly less and prefer to travel countries near to us. Let ' s be selfless, only one person ' s help can change the situation!
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