Words: 775
Global warming: a term we have been hearing since our grade school science classes. Unfortunately, most are not aware of the serious alarm this climate change has on our ecosystem. We are currently facing the biggest crisis in the history of our entire planet. People are oblivious to the seriousness of this global crisis. Reflecting on history it is common to deny a concept that seems foreign to our society until it has a life-changing impact on us. For example, years ago studies were developing stating tobacco use was directly related to Eng cancer.
People continued to smoke, ads and commercials continued to fly over social media, despite these studies. Now, with our modern discoveries and many tragic losses, it is unheard of to deny that tobacco and cancer are directly related. Our future generations will one day look back on our actions that harmed the environment and wonder how we could be so oblivious to the health of our planet. The proof is everywhere. The warnings are present everyday, but they must be heard and responded to.
The climate change of our planet is a result of he collision of our civilization and the natural processes of Earth. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states humans are largely responsible for this deterioration. Human activities are responsible for the large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere. This problem is augmented by the Earth’s rapidly growing population. AY Gore discussed the increase of human population during his lifetime. When he was born, during the Baby Boomer generation, the world population stood at billion.
The world population now stands at around even billion. If it continues to progress at this rate, by his expected lifespan, it will reach nine billion. The rise to two billion took 10,000 lifetimes, and in one lifetime it increased seven billion. The world we inhabit was not built to sustain so much life. It is our population using the finite resources of oil, food, and water. People often think the commodity we will run out of is oil. But there is a more important natural resource that we let dwindle away everyday: water.
Our planet is slowly running out of the most vital and indispensable resource. The EPA worked to save our surface waters by passing the Clean Water Act in 1972, which establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the U. S. And regulating quality standards for surface waters. According to The Inconvenient Truth, 40% Of the people on our planet acquire their drinking water from glaciers or river water. This water is melting into salt water and evaporating into our atmosphere due to the rising temperatures of our planet.
In the documentary AY Gore further explained the difference between heat absorption of ice and bodies of water. Glaciers reflect over 90% of light rays , bouncing off like a giant mirror. This works to keep the earth cooler by deflecting the sun’s rays back out of the atmosphere into space. But when the sun’s rays hit the ocean, it absorbs more than 90% of the heat, which is then trapped in our oceans and atmosphere. The increased temperature of the oceans accelerates the melting of the glaciers sitting in the ocean. The melting ice is mixing with saltwater, which is not drinkable.
There is a method called desalination which inverts seawater to drinking water which is becoming a more enticing option with developing technology. There is a case-study here in Tampa Bay to test this process. The EPA has developed a project called The Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant uses a process called reverse osmosis (OR) to produce drinking water from seawater. The challenge we face with correcting the Climate Change issue requires cooperation from every nation on the planet. All differences set aside, we all inhibit one planet, and we must work to protect and conserve our world before it is harmed beyond repair.
A warming climate will bring changes which can affect our water supplies, agriculture, power and transportation systems, the natural environment, and even our own health and safety according to the EPA. This is our only home, and we must save civilization to secure our future. The Climate crisis we are facing can be solved by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the heating of the planet, working to conserve our most valuable resource of water, and spread awareness of the threat of this issue. We are the change for the future of this planet.