Dear Mr/Mrs President,

It has become common in presidential debates to dismiss the environment. The damage of the environment is a big issue because of the rising temperature and sea level. three ways temperature and sea levels hurt our world through suffering of many life forms all around the world, the impact rising temperature has on coastal cities, and the dangers that could develop for inhabitants of the United States of America. It amazes me how people concern themselves with the economy and racial tensions, which are reasonable topics to talk about because it causes a lot of problems in our world today, but if we don’t do something about the environment, we soon may not have a planet to concern ourselves with these issues.

Rising of temperature and sea level is an effect of our “carbon footprint”. Carbon dioxide levels haven’t been this high on earth for 650,000 years at 404.07ppm as of August 2014. Carbon, however, isn’t the only greenhouse gas that is emitted, there is also methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated oxide, which in turn, produces a rise in temperature. The 10th warmest year in the last 134 years has been in the 20th century and the average temperature is now .87 degrees Celsius as of 2015. This leads to the arctic glaciers deteriorating, leading to rising sea levels. Our arctic ice declines at a rate of 13.3 percent, which rises our sea levels to an average of 3.4mm per year.

The melting of the ice and the rising sea levels propose a danger to the animals in the arctic as well. The warming of the environment also makes waters in the arctic harsh making it very difficult for plankton,one of the base food sources in the arctic, to live in, which could provoke the whole arctic food chain to collapse. Polar bears, ringed seals and other animals are having a hard time adapting to the new environment, causing populations of these animals to drop. More and more animal species are going to be added to the endangered species list and inevitably become extinct. I don’t know about you but I would like to live in a world where younger generations get to know what a polar bear is from their newly updated science textbook then from their history books.

Rising temperature and sea level could potentially add more environmental and other troubles for coastal cities and therefore adding additional stress to these cities. Coastal cities have a very dense population and does lots for the United States economy and are already facing challenges such as shoreline erosion, coastal flooding, and water pollution. The rising sea level pushes salt water further upstream and higher salinity can make water undrinkable without desalination. Sea level rise could magnify the impacts of storms by raising the base on which storm surges build. Also, the rising temperature which could bring heavier rainfall and melting snow can create more flooding. All these factors force coastal cities to look for solutions since they bring in 58% of the gop and have approximately 25 million people living in coastal cities in the United States. Yet, even though they are searching for answers, if the president doesn’t help out, how can we expect them to find a solution?

Damage of rising temperature and sea levels doesn’t just affect the weather in coastal cities but all around the United States and could cause danger for every American citizens. The warming temperature is linked to causing stronger systems, such as hurricanes and cyclones. Weather catastrophes worldwide has tripled over the last 30 years, and during 2011 and 2012, severe weather has caused approximately $60 billion in damage each year. Climate change can also be linked to heat waves and long-term drought in the United States by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. The potential destruction that rising weather and sea level has on people all over the Unites States, means that it should be discussed in the coming election and something our future president should try to resolve this concerning topic.

This topic is seen in two ways. On one hand the presidential candidate Donald Trump believes that the impacts climate change leaves on the Unites States and on the world is a hoax to stop American companies to stop competing with the rest of the world. On the other hand Hillary Clinton is known to fight against environmental issues. Although both have been known to change their minds on the stands they have.

My generation and generations to come are like parents that yell at their kid to clean the mess they have made. The adults of this world aren't cleaning the mess they are making and leaving it to the younger generations to cleanup the environment, but at that point it could be too late.

Bibliography

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Society, National Geographic. "Global Warming Effects Information, Global Warming Effects Facts, Climate Change Effects - National Geographic." National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2016. <http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-effects/>.

"Arctic." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2016. <http://www.worldwildlife.org/places/arctic>.

"Climate Change Indicators: Greenhouse Gases." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2016. <https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/greenhouse-gases>.

"Climate Impacts on Coastal Areas." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2016. <https://www.epa.gov/climate-impacts/climate-impacts-coastal-areas>.

"Climate Change Indicators: Weather and Climate." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2016. <https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/weather-climate>.

@funds4disaster. "Climate Change and Extreme Weather Patterns - Center for Disaster Philanthropy." Center for Disaster Philanthropy. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2016. <http://disasterphilanthropy.org/issue-insight/climate-change-and-extreme-weather-patterns/>.

RepublicanViews.org, Don't Bs Me Says, Tim Says, and Esteban Says. "Home." Republican Views on the Environment. N.p., 18 Apr. 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2016. <http://www.republicanviews.org/republican-views-on-the-environment/>.

Https://www.facebook.com/asankin. "How Do Clinton and Trump Stack up on Environmental Issues?" The Daily Dot. N.p., 12 May 2016. Web. 30 Oct. 2016. <http://www.dailydot.com/layer8/trump-vs-clinton-environmental-issues/>.