Dear Future President,

Climate Change is a very important and dangerous issue that I believe we should all be worried about. We as humans use fossil fuels like coal to supply us with gasoline and electricity. Yet the way we go about collecting these necessities, is actually making things worse for us in the long run.

When we burn fossil fuels, carbon gets released into the air, which then mixes with oxygen to form CO2. CO2 is a greenhouse gas and warms the lower atmosphere. Warming the atmosphere makes the glaciers melt, and the oceans warm. According to the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), both of these effects combined will cause the sea level to rise one to four feet by the end of the century. Four feet may not seem much, but for coastal cities, four feet would be a disaster.

According to the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), the United States is the second largest producer of CO2 in the world. By having Americans cut down on the fossil fuels we burn, and using technologies like hydroelectricity, solar power and electric cars, we can really help slow down the rate in which the atmosphere is warming. To put into perspective how much harm burning fossil fuels are causing, let’s take this fact from NASA’s Science Mission Directorate: "Burning only one gallon of gasoline releases nineteen pounds of CO2 into the air." To me that is just insane. When I see all those cars on the road, and all of them burning gasoline, it just gets to me how much CO2 is being released into the atmosphere and the amount of damage that we as humans are doing to our planet.

Additionally, if the United States reduces the amount of fossil fuels burned, we will slow down the rate that the water rises, and this will save major cities like New York and Los Angeles, which are also major trade cities and give the United States billions of dollars every year. In addition to losing major trade cities, we will lose the coral reefs of the world which attract a lot of tourism to different parts of the United States. I personally don’t want to see our cities and coral reefs get destroyed because we are not doing anything about climate change.

I beg you to put an end to the sea level rise. I live in a coastal city and I love seeing all the different underwater creatures when I go diving. However nice my city would appear underwater, I would much rather have it above the water so I could still live in it and enjoy it while breathing the air around me. If you limit the amount of fossil fuels burned, and the amount of landfills filled, you could really slow down sea level rise and save so many cities and city dwellers. You could also come up with your own ideas to slow down the rising sea levels, but please, do it before it’s too late for the cities on the coasts of our nation.

Thank you for saving our cities,

Samuel G.

Sources:

"A Blanket around the Earth" Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet. Ed. Holly Shaftel. NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, n.d. Web. 03 Oct. 2016.

"The Consequences of Climate Change" Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet. Ed. Holly Shaftel. NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, n.d. Web. 03 Oct. 2016.

"The Science of Climate Change" Fast Facts About Climate Change. National Wildlife Federation,n.d. Web. 05 Oct. 2016.