Save the Oceans

Dear Future President, I am writing to you to make sure you don’t overlook climate change in our oceans. Covering more than 70 percent of the world’s surface, the ocean is a huge part of the world’s survival and is a necessity to countries everywhere. Due to pollution and man-made problems, our oceans have become greatly different than they were thirty years ago. The worldwide sea level has risen over eight inches in the past few decades and shows no signs of stopping soon. As the temperature of the earth changes, the ocean changes with it. With increasing use of fossil fuels, global temperatures have caused many of the ice sheets and glaciers to melt and flood into the ocean. A few inches rising sea level doesn’t sound that bad, but it can have enormous affects on us. Coastal flooding has become much more frequent now and poses lots of damage. Coastal infrastructure is also much more vulnerable to sea storms and hurricanes. Ocean volume also has affects of the tides and currents which causes shifting fish populations, coastal erosion, and more pollution getting in the water. In the end, we must find an alternative that doesn’t involve burning fossil fuels. So much of the carbon dioxide from car emissions goes in the air and is filtered by the ocean. This causes the ocean water to react and become much more acidic which is killing off fish, coral, and plankton. Even if these creatures do survive, we are still harvesting them for food and feeding it to humans. When we eat acidic fish it can lead to serious medical problems. It is time to change to we can avoid making these problems worse. I am aware how difficult a task it is to reduce carbon emissions. I am not expecting you to completely save all the oceans, but at the least start the initiative to preserve and recover. This process of revitalizing our reefs will take many years and I believe our next president should start the process while we can. I don’t think you want any of these issues to grow any more serious than they already are. I hope you can see now why is is crucial to our world’s survival to find an alternative source of fuel and energy. If we keep burning fossil fuels and making more carbon emissions, the consequences could be devastating. -George B.