Dear Future President,

Climate change is a big issue in the world today. It is causing animals to have to change their habits and even go extinct. Climate change is affecting animals today by the actions of humans that cause the output of greenhouse gases. Humans should realize the problem of climate change and alter their everyday tasks to better help our environment.

The largest known contributor of climate change is the burning of fossil fuels. Human activities result in output of four greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and halocarbons (a group containing fluorine, chlorine, and bromine). CO2 has increased due to transportation, building heating and cooling, and manufacturing of goods such as cement (NOAA). CH4 has increased due to human activities related to agriculture, natural gas distribution, and landfills (NOAA). N2O is outputted by fertilizer use and fossil fuel burning (NOAA). Halocarbon have increased due to human activities also.

Climate change affects animals in lots of ways including, birds lay eggs earlier in the year, plants bloom earlier, and mammals come out of hibernation sooner. Lots of species of animals are moving close to the poles as it is getting warmer and warmer. Animals that migrate don't have to migrate as far, even some not migrating at all. The changes in migration patterns are causing species to start going extinct. If the sea rose only 50 cm it would cause sea turtles to lose the beaches that they lay eggs on. Over 30 percent of the Caribbean beaches used by sea life as nesting beaches would be taken away (climateandweather.net). Animals that require shallow gentle waters would soon be lost. Climate change also affects the plants on Earth. There are an increase of forest fires, decrease in rain, the ground becomes warmer than the plant is familiar to. Three-quarters of all food crops rely on pollination, and bees and other pollinators have already suffered heavily in recent decades from disease, pesticide use and the widespread loss of the flowery habitats on which they feed (theguardian.com). This in turn will affect humans which is pretty ironic how the actions we make are negatively affecting us in the future.

There are many people who believe global warming isn't real or doesn't exist. A statistic that was recorded in 2012 was that the arctic ice level was up by 50 percent (conserveenergyfuture.com). Also there has been no significant temperature change since 1997. These statistics show that our world has not physically been affected.

There are ways we can prevent and slow the process of climate change. There are simple everyday tasks that anyone can do and it will have such a big impact on climate change and help make life for the animals on this planet so much better. In your home you can replace lighting fixtures, heat and cool more intelligently and cautiously, insulate your home, reduce, reuse, and recycle, use water efficiently, spread the word (epa.gov). At work or office you can manage your office equipment energy use, use less energy for your commute, encourage your organization to do the same (epa.gov). On the road you can buy a fuel efficient and low greenhouse gas vehicle, maintain your car, give you car a break by carpooling or riding a bike or even public transportation (epa.gov). At school you can look at your school's climate impact, teach students about climate change, if you're an administrator you could try to limit greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce, reuse, and recycle (epa.gov).

The leading cause of climate change is the actions that us humans take. This affects the environment, the plants, especially the animals on this globe, and even ourselves. We can slow down the process of climate change by learning easy tricks to limit the production of greenhouse gases and making our environment a priority.

Sincerely, 

Mac