I had learned about carbon footprints at my old school I knew the effects it could potentially have on the environment, but since I have calculated my footprint I have been more inspired to take action. I am now more aware of how my daily behaviors, such as my diet, add up to my carbon footprint. Now I am more willing and excited to help the environment!

I am also more aware of my carbon footprint and want the help the environment a better place.

That's great katie! My story is similar to yours, I learned about carbon footprints and what people are doing to save the Earth and I just love all of it so much. It's important to care about the Earth, this is what makes change in our society.

I feel the same way. Since I calculated my carbon footprint, I have searched for ways to reduce my footprint and have begun to use them. We only have one Earth. We need to take care of it.

This was a great activity to really put things into perspective! Instead of being told over and over how we are using too much energy, we are able to see for ourselves what we are doing and how each individual affects the planet. With this information staring us in the face it is a lot harder to ignore.

Global climate change is happening now, and its effects continue to worsen. Global climate change is caused by an emission of fossil fuels that the population burns for energy (such as coal, natural gasses, and oil) trapping the heat within our atmosphere. It has caused record high heat. According to http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming#.V-vqS_krIdU, the past 38 years have all exceeded the 20th century’s temperature average. Moreover, the last twelve warmest recorded years have been after 1998. And the hottest year in the United States was 2012. This information proves that climate change is steadily raising the nation’s temperature.
In addition to rising temperatures, global climate change causes weather to be significantly more volatile. The planet is experiencing an increase in the number and severity of hurricanes, floods, drought, heat waves, wildfires, and freezes. Global climate change also impacts our health. It has been connected to asthma symptoms, prolonged allergy seasons, and worsened air quality. These results illustrate the dangers of this rapidly worseni ng problem, and how it directly affects every individual and generations to come.
After this informative demonstration, I, too,gained a clearer understanding for how significantly my day-to-day life impacts the environment. While less frequent events, such as trips, confirmed my suspicions of their contribution to my carbon footprint, it was the small daily actions which I was surprised to find were the most damaging. Transportation emissions can be decreased by utilizing public transportation, carpooling more often, and walking or biking when possible.  For example if I carpooled to and from lacrosse practice four a times a week, it would noticeably reduce my carbon footprint. If each person made these small changes, then we could drastically slow humans’ devastating effects on our planet.

You’re right - it is the time for action. If we don’t start now, it will just continue to worsen, and the effects will get even more dramatic as time passes. Eventually, there will be irreversible things, like species driven to extinction, and whole ecosystems changing. This website has more impacts of climate change: https://www.koshland-science-museum.org … ab/impacts. It isn’t hard to save energy and lower your carbon footprint, and help make a difference in someone else’s, too. Installing solar panels can help with reducing how much power you “use” from your provider, as well as lowering your energy bill, and if there is leftover power, it is sent along to be used by another person, letting them use greener energy, too. (Another great thing is that you get paid for the extra electricity your solar panels generate). If that’s too hard, simple things like turning off lights, unplugging unused chargers or buying the energy efficient lights next time you need to replace yours can save a significant amount of power when you add it all up over time . Some more ways to take action: https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/kids … index.html
Honestly, I agree - it is hard to change behaviors that we kids (teenagers if you prefer,) have been born around, smartphones, tablets, computers, super-cool video games and beyond, and I completely understand if those are hard to banish from your life. I mean, I love having games and I want desperately virtual reality like the one from Sword Art Online to come true in my lifetime, so make up for it in other ways - we won’t know whether you opted out on games or if you became really good about energy efficiency in other areas! I am willing to buy local food, eat organically (we already have a garden and fruit trees), I think electric cars are awesome, and would be even more so if they were actually silent (they make a high pitched whirring sort of noise to those who don’t know). I try my best to stay off of my electronics when I can, and read a book or spend time with my family or being active instead. Nobody has to be perfect, we just have to actually do something, and it will all come around.