Vance 1

Emma Vance

Professor Nathan Cole

English 2010

13 November 2019

Climate Change and How We Can Stop It

More than a million species face extinction every day due to the effects of climate

change. Climate change is the abnormal adjustment in a normal weather pattern. That could be a

new record heat temperature of a certain place, or even how much precipitation an area gets in a

year. The earth’s climate has always been transitioning, but never before has it been as drastic as

it is now. Scientists even say that we may only have 12 years to stop the increase of change in

the climate. Because of the way humans keep discovering new things and evolving, it is causing

the earth to suffer. Over time, the earth could no longer be a wonderful and beautiful place we

call home. Instead, it could turn into a place where only trash and debris rome. No more

creatures, no more forests, no more humans… No more life.

Pollution is caused by one of the earth’s biggest and naturalist killers; wildfires. Wildfires

cause the eyes to burn, lungs and hearts to curate diseases, and even death in extreme

circumstances. 350 billion is the estimated cost of the federal government’s response to wildfires

between 2007-2017 (Wait, Why is Climate Change a Bad Thing?). It is also stated that “extreme

heat can ‘overpower the human body’ and cause dehydration, heatstroke, and major organ

damage.” Most wildfires are caused accidentally by used cigarette butts, campfires left

unattended, excessive burning of debris, etc., but did you know that some organizations such as

the Daniel Boon National Forest are purposely starting wildfires (Controlled Burning)? This

technique is called controlled burning. Dr. Timothy B. Muhic of Plattsburgh New York says that
 Vance 2

wildfires are “regenerative for the forest, revitalizing for the watershed, renewing for the soil,

and reset the clock for the ecosystem.” Curating our own wildfires does not just murder the trees

though, according to worldwildlife.org they “kill and displace wildlife, alter water cycles and soil

fertility, and endanger the lives and livelihoods of local communities.” Not only that, but fires

are not containable the majority of the time. You never know when a gusty wind can blow the

flames a little bit out of the coarse they were on, causing other things to ignite that were not

supposed to in the first place. Purposely starting wildfires is too risky. We need to try and

prevent them, not set them off.

In 1970 the first-ever Earth Day was celebrated in concern of the earth’s global

degradation. From 1970 to now, there have been many calls to action and movements to help

climate change diminish. In the late 1980s, humans experienced a sharp increase in the earth’s

temperature caused by factories, car engines, etc, the human race was providing. 1988 was

actually proven to be the hottest summer on record (even though we have had hotter summers

since) (Climate Change History). That record temperature caused scientists and the public to

begin to pay closer attention to climate change. One year later the Intergovernmental Panel on

Climate Change was established to help provide a scientific view of climate change. As

technology keeps advancing, the methods of solving climate change have kept advancing as

well. Thanks to social media platforms such as Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, and many others,

we are able to witness the saddening effects of climate change. With those platforms we possess

today, it is very simple to spread the word, donate to charitable organizations, or share videos

about those specific issues. Some people may argue that the climate change message isn’t

working though. Charles Eisenstein in “Why the Climate Change Message Isn’t Working” says

that “people are not going to be frightened into caring. Scientific predictions about what will
 Vance 3

happen 10, 20, or 50 years in the future are not going to make them care, not enough.” Although

many people could argue for that to be partly true, the movements and organizations for climate

change are making a difference. More than 6 million have joined the latest wave of global

protests and it is just the beginning (Climate Crisis). This means that every day, more and more

people are starting to care and show their concern about this big issue.

There are many different climate change organizations such as Save the Climate, Union

of Concerned Scientists, Climate Action Network, etc. All of these organizations have taken

many steps to help save our planet. The Union of Concerned Scientists is a group of 250+

scientists who, “combine technical analysis and effective advocacy to create innovative, practical

solutions for a healthy, safe, and sustainable future” according to ucsusa.org. Climatenetwork.org

states that they are “a worldwide network of over 1300 Non-Governmental Organizations in

more than 120 countries, working to promote government and individual action to limit human-

induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels.” There are also smaller organizations

like Save Lands that plant two trees when they sell any item, Friends of the Earth that informs

you about all the actions that are taking a toll on our earth, or Sierra Club Foundation that you

can donate to. Simple tasks like turning off the water when it doesn’t need to be running,

walking instead of driving, recycling, respecting national forests and parks, donating to simple

organizations, or picking up trash on the streets can all slowly decrease. Slowly but surely, if we

humans decide to make those simple changes we can solve climate change. Of course, you will

have many people argue against the fact that climate change isn’t our biggest issue, and that

there’s nothing we could possibly do to solve this dilemma. Richardheinberg.com states, “there’s

really no way out. Whether we stick with business as usual or attempt a dramatic multi-pronged

intervention, our current ‘normal’ way of life is toast.” Even if you find people to argue against
 Vance 4

that fact, it will eventually become a very big concern of the world. We’re not sure if the effects

of climate change will get better, but we can be sure that they’re undeniable. The UNFCCC had

affirmed that climate change is one of the greatest issues of our time (unstats.un.org). That being

said, it is one of humans biggest concerns and it will continue to be a big concern.

Despite all of rebuttals we’re faced with daily about climate change, we can make a

change. Climate change is an issue that can be solved and humans definitely have the

opportunity to reduce the effects of climate change. They have the opportunity to make a change

by being aware of the effects of climate change, reaching out through media platforms and

reaching out to specific organizations. If humans slowly get in these habits, it will slowly make

the world a healthy place it once was. It could possibly take many years to get over the climate

change issue, but it will be worth it in the end. If all of these statements can slowly be

implemented, we will succeed in the future.

Works Cited

“About.” Union of Concerned Scientists, Np, https://www.ucsusa.org/about.

Berger, Daniel. “7 Scary Facts about Climate Change.” MSNBC, NBCUniversal News Group, 15

Apr. 2015, http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/7-scary-facts-about-climate-change.

Daniel Boone National Forest - Home,

www.fs.usda.gov/detail/dbnf/home/?cid=stelprdb5281464

Donovan, Will. “Why Are Wildfires Good for the Environment?” Big Ideas Blog, Np, 20 June

2014,

blog.suny.edu/2013/08/ask-an-expert-why-are-wildfires-good

Eisenstein, Charles. “Why the Climate Change Message Isn't Working.” YES! Magazine, Np, 4

Jan. 2019,

www.yesmagazine.org/planet/why-the-climate-change-message-isnt-working-20190104

Global Protests.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 27 Sept. 2019,

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/27/climate-crisis-6-million-people-

join-latest-wave-of-worldwide-protests

History.com Editors. “Climate Change History.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 6 Oct.

2017, https://www.history.com/topics/natural-disasters-and-environment/history-

of-climate-change

Na, Na. “Are We Really Running Out of Time to Stop Climate Change?” LiveScience, Purch,

www.livescience.com/12-years-to-stop-climate-change.html

Na, Na. “UNSD - Environment Statistics.” United Nations, United Nations, 0AD

unstats.un.org/unsd/envstats/climatechange.cshtml

Project, The Climate Reality. “Wait, Why Is Climate Change a Bad Thing?” Climate Reality,

Np,
 Vance 6

17 Oct. 2019, https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/wait-why-climate-

change-bad-thing.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pzhqyb70mB0