Guillermo California

Climate Change

This is my letter on the issue of Climate Change

Nov. 7, 2016

Dear Next President of the USA,

I believe pollution and climate change are the biggest problems facing America right now. I know this is a controversial topic that not all Americans believe in. I think it doesn’t matter if you believe in it or not, because the fact is that it is that working towards it can’t hurt us, but ignoring the planet certainly will- eventually the earth will not be able to sustain us anymore. There is only one earth and if we mess it up, we will not have another one. Despite all this, we do have evidence to support the fact that climate change is a reality.

It is a fact that humans contribute to Climate Change. Greenhouse gases are one example. CO2 gases are emitted every day, and sadly they will never be stopped. Cars release CO2 into the atmosphere, causing climate change to grow. The reality is, we need cars to survive now and days. We need them to go to work, to go get food, to go places, to go everywhere. Some people might say that electric cars are the future, but the truth is it's not. Not that many people are going to buy an electric car because they are not as fast and as good looking as regular cars are. It is not the future, and it is not going to be it for quite a while.

For example, global sea levels have risen 6.7 inches in last century due to ice melting. Even though a 6.7” increase in sea levels doesn’t seem like enough of a danger to us, it is. Not only to us, but to aquatic animals it is more of a threat. The Orange-Spotted Filefish is endangered all over the world and extinct in Japan during an episode of warmer ocean temperatures in 1988 (nationalgeographic.com). Orange-Spotted Filefish habitat are coral reefs. Coral reefs are dying too, which means both coral reefs and Orange-Spotted Filefish are going to go extinct in a couple of years if we don’t do anything to try and save them. Other examples of animals that gone extinct are Baiji dolphin, Ecopa Pupfish, Sea Mink, Caribbean Monk Seal, and many more. About 10,000 animals go extinct every day (wwf.panda.org). At this rate, every species will go extinct in 10,000 years. That is something to think about. If we think about it, this is not “our” planet. Most sea creatures have been on this earth longer than humans, and it is not fair how we destroy their environment just for our own greed. Also, scientists have pointed to a steady rise with a stronger period in the 70s, calmed in the 90s, and a return in the rising pattern in the 2000s. Other pieces of evidence we have to support climate change is the fact that global average surface temperatures increased by more than 1℃ and forcibly displaced people at 59.5 million- almost 50% more than in 1940. You might not think 1℃ is a lot, but it actually is. For example, if your refrigerator was just 1℉ too hot, all of your food would spoil. Also the fact that this has displaced 59.5 million people is a lot of people. I believe there is more evidence to back up the fact that Climate change is a fact than more to say it is not.

Some people might argue climate change is a hoax. There is some evidence to back up them up. For example, Arctic ice has increased by 50% since 2012. For that statement, I argue the fact that sea levels have still increased. Also, ice has grown by 50% in 2012, but what about the recent or past years? More ice has melted over 100 years than how much it growed in 50%. What also some people might argue is that nature produces more CO2 that humans. Nasa launched a satellite which measured CO2 levels, and Rainforest in South America Rainforest, Africa, and China were the top CO2 emitters. I do agree with plants emitting CO2, but we cannot ignore the fact that China was in that list. China is one of the most CO2 emitted places in the world. If China wasn’t on that list, climate change would probably not be a problem right now. Another argument some people might have is that Ocean’s are rising more less than expected. What i have to say to this argument is that Ocean is still rising, even though it is not at full speed.Now that i have disapproved some counterarguments, I hope now you know how much this problem means to me and how much i believe this is a real problem.

As you can see, Mr. or Mrs. President, climate change is our biggest problem in my opinion. Thanks for the time you took to read this letter- I appreciate it. Hopefully during my lifetime, climate change will not be a problem anymore.

Sincerely,

Guillermo