In the Northern Hemisphere in 2017 and 2018 brought several destructive hurricanes to the shores of North America, the Caribbean, and throughout the Pacific rim. Such extreme weather events are predicted to get more common and more severe with increasing climate change.
Several participating classes in the ISCFC were or are in the path of these storms and we hope for the best for them, their families and communities.
We would love to hear from students affected directly and indirectly by extreme weather events, and also any students who have been following the news this summer.
What are your thoughts about the connection between climate change and extreme weather events? Has this hurricane season increased your concern about climate change or not? Do you think that US citizens and residents (and others in the region) will take climate change more seriously now?
Extreme Weather >
Climate Change: Ocean Levels
Whether we notice a difference in our earth or not, its temperatures are rapidly rising. Ice in the Artic is melting, causing sea levels to rise and animals all over to be misplaced. The cryosphere, which is the frozen water on earth, is melting at a fast pace due to the warmer atmosphere caused by global warming. The planet's decrease in glaciers and polar ice is causing sea levels to constantly rise. This leads to an imbalance in earth's ecosystems everywhere. The once snow white ice transforms into the dark ocean water, which not only increases the sea level, but attracts sunlight as well. In reaction to the attraction of sunlight, a constant cycle of melting and heating occurs, making the ocean water rise to levels it has never been before.
No matter what we do, ocean levels will continue to rise. The sun can penetrate the ozone layer and will continue to heat up the earth and cause temperatures to rise. As humans, we are contributing to global warming by emitting lots of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Some ways we can help protect the environment are by limiting the amount of carbon we use or switching to green energy. As a country, we have collectively tried to limit our carbon emissions by carpooling to school, creating cleaner fuel, and converting to renewable energy. It is impossible to stop carbon emissions completely, but we can try and reduce it to help preserve the earth.
Jillie and Justin, I think this is really important to bring up for a lot of reasons, the most important being that we are destroying our planet. Everyone knows that though, but we need to find a solution to stop or at least slow it while we still can. The oceans are becoming more and more polluted, as more carbon dioxide is put into the atmosphere it destroys reefs through bleaching. The increased amount of CO2 also stops certain shell fish from being able to live and create the protection they need, all of this will ultimately effect us if we do not stop it. According to National Geographic, if the water levels continue to rise it will create major flooding in low level areas around the world completely destroying environments and the homes of people alike. People just need to come together to try and figure out a solution to this problem by lowering the output of emissions by all countries so that we can save our world.