October 27, 2016

Dear Future President,

The Earth is dying, and it's’ all our fault. Pollution fills the air and more concerningly, the water. Some people would say something like “Well we can just filter it out before we drink it,” but that’s a bit self centered. We are responsible for the other life on this planet, and we just do whatever we feel like. Freshwater pollution is even more our problem, as we, animals and plants all need fresh water to survive. Even though there is a lot of water on Earth, the small amount we can drink is in danger.

For some background info, let’s go with statistics. National Geographic says “In photographs taken from space, we can see that our planet has more water than land. It is unexpected and somewhat inconceivable that less than three percent of Earth's water is fresh water. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, most of that three percent is inaccessible.” This means that three percent of earth’s water is fresh water, but most is not able to be accessed. This matters because there is not much time before it all becomes plagued by the human footprint. Freshwater is becoming harder and harder to come by.

Next up, causes of the pollution. According to National Geographic, developing countries dump around 70% of industrial wastes into the water. Also, in 2012, we dumped more than 206 million pounds into our water. Another cause is plastic water bottles thrown into dumps without second thought, this also pollutes the groundwater.

Now, effects are up to bat. Fresh water pollution causes illness for people in India. If fresh water becomes polluted everywhere, all plants will die. (The effects of that should be obvious.) Animals will also die. What’s next? Us, that’s what. Then, all life on earth will be gone.

Now, on a happier note, some ways to fix it. We need to do something, such as; making sure we dump waste in better places than the water, cleaning all the water out, and keeping what’s better recycled, recycled.

In conclusion, we have a mark on the world we need to reduce (yet another issue entirely), clean our waters, and fix the pollution. The world needs help, and it’s our duties to provide that help. We need you, Future President, to help. Are you up to the task? We hope so.

Sincerely,

I.