Clara Lee
Mrs. Laws
Biology- P5
28 September 2016
   In order for the environment to get better, it is necessary for people to be aware of what’s happening around them. A big problem that's happening right now is the political controversy regarding climate change. There are arguments occurring in the political world about how global warming will actually be beneficial or how global warming and climate change is just a big lie scientists made up even though there have been multiple studies conducted on this topic. There are different things we can do prevent global warming from getting worse.
   An increase in CO2 in our atmosphere is not only affecting us, but it’s also affecting other aspects of our environment. About half of the carbon dioxide humans produce go into the ocean, land, and is absorbed by plants, but in the ocean, it becomes a type of acid that’s harmful for life underwater. Right now, we are already facing some of the consequences of global warming. Even though there’s only 4% more moisture in the atmosphere, extreme weather phenomenons  has already began  occurring that usually only happens in rare occasions. For example, now there is an increase in floods, storms, fire outbreaks, and droughts. Climate change is already taking place.
   We can prevent climate change from getting worse by taking action now. A way to stop rising temperatures is to educate the public and  raise awareness of what’s actually happening. It's common for statements to be broadcasted on TV that falsely inform what climate change really is and how global warming isn’t a big concern when it really is affecting the whole planet and should be treated as a priority. People must be informed so that climate change won't be taking as an opinion or a political topic and instead treat it as a threat. People should also be educated so they won’t be fooled by large companies who make false accusations on climate change so their work won’t be perceived negatively. Another step we can take to stop this is to switch to clean energy. Clean energy is now very convenient and is easily accessible. It’s also unlimited, so investing, supporting, and switching to clean energy will benefit the environment and even the economy since it will increase job opportunities. Stopping global warming instantly is not possible; however, we can stop the controversies and arguments about this topic and start coming up with ideas on how to solve this issue to begin the journey to abolish this problem. The only way any solution will work is if everyone work together. We need to start working now to prevent our planet from being in danger!

Source:
@kqedlowdown. "Eight Great Multimedia Resources for            Teaching about Climate Change." The Lowdown. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.
(Link: https://ww2.kqed.org/lowdown/2015/11/30 … resources/)

In order for our environment to improve, or at least not get any worse than it’s current state, people need to understand and be aware of what is happening around them. At this very second, climate change and global warming are taking over the planet and not enough people are doing anything about it. Both of these things are being caused by greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere on a massive scale. Part of the reason that an effort has not been taken by a large amount of people in our world, is that many are unaware of the consequences and effects that global warming has on the earth, and even them individually. According to https://ncse.com/library-resource/climate-change-101, little things that the average person might not notice or hear about like the fact that plant and animal species are having to adapt and change to new area because of the temperature shift. They might not know, that as species are moving around, they are bringing foreign diseases with them to their new homes. This alone will eventually snow ball into a massive almost unfixable problem. Ano ther thing is, the heating of the globe is causing the polar ice caps to melt, which is raising sea levels, which puts coastal places at high risk for floods and storms. This world wide heat wave is also heightening the risk of drought and wildfires (such as the happenings in California happening right now). I feel that if knowledgeable people can raise awareness and tell others what they can do to help, we will go a long way to either stopping the impending threat of Global Warming, or at the least, slow it down.
To add to the ISCFC climate change forum post “Clean Development; Ways to Stop and Prevent Climate Change,” I would like to point out, that what many need to realize, is that the average person doesn’t need to do much to help. By slightly lowering their own carbon footprint, they are making a world of a difference. For example, what if every time a person walked out of a room in their house they turned off the light, all they have to do is flip the switch. Now imagine that every person in a city did that, a state even. What about a country? By just taking a few seconds a day to complete this simple task, people as a whole could save millions of hours of electricity, and they could lower their own carbon footprint drastically. According to http://www.facethefactsusa.org/facts/th … etting-cro
wded-video- “Drivers log an average of 13,476 miles per year, or 37 miles a day…. 210 million [Americans with drivers licences] in 2010.” This indicates that if every person with an American drivers licence cut down their daily miles by maybe 5 miles. That would save a total of 1 billion 50 million miles, just in one day! Imagine what we could do for the earth if we did that for just a week, just a month, maybe even for the rest of the year. People need to realize that it is the little things in our daily lives and routines that make all the difference. There is no need for someone to give up electricity or their car to make an impact, all you have to do is walk to school once a week, carpool to soccer practice. It can be anything! When you really look at the big picture, that’s what makes all the difference.

Sources:
By Itself-But It Needs to Be Part of the Solution. "Global Warming." Confronting the Realities of
Climate Change. Union of Concerned Scientists, n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.
<http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming>.
"Climate Change 101." Climate Change 101. National Center for Science Education Inc., n.d. Web.
29 Sept. 2016. <https://ncse.com/library-resource/climate-change-101>.
By. "The Asphalt's Getting Crowded." Face the Facts USA. George Washington University, 25 Jan.
2013. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.
<http://www.facethefactsusa.org/facts/th … ed-video->.

I definitely agree with this, and believe this should be advertised in many areas in big cities and towns. A lot of people do not understand how our everyday routines greatly affect the environment and our future lives. I think many big companies should switch to clean energy to power their factories, and advertise why they switched. Possibly, customers may stop buying from competing companies that do not use clean energy which can help encourage industries to switch to clean energy. Not everyone is aware of the serious environmental issues caused by global warming, and big companies can help raise awareness if they switch to clean energy