The Official Student News Source of HSEHS

HSENews

The Official Student News Source of HSEHS

HSENews

The Official Student News Source of HSEHS

HSENews

Our Miracle

  What do you have in common with the people who lived 100 years ago? What about 200 years ago? 300? There is one thing each of us has in common with our ancestors from the past, and it is that we live on the same blue miracle. The only planet in this vast universe that is known to contain life. This is the only home we have and it is changing right before our eyes.

  Climate Change has been a widespread issue since the 1980s. It is linked to global warming, which is a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth’s atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by the continued use of fossil fuels.

   It is debated by many whether the planet is actually in need of attention. It is a good thing that we are talking about it, considering this is our only planet. That being said, let’s take a look at events that NASA has predicted for the future. For example, NASA predicts that the Arctic will be ice free the summer before mid century. For students at HSE, that year is in our lifetime. What does that have to do with us? The decline of arctic ice is proof of climate change and global warming. In addition, melting glaciers cause the sea levels to rise. It is important to look at issues in our specific region as well. NASA predicts many different effects for regions all over the United States but looking specifically at the midwest, we are likely to see extreme heat, heavy downpours and flooding. All of which will affect infrastructure, health, agriculture, forestry, transportation, air and water quality, and more. The great lakes will also be affected by global warming and climate change. Unless we change course immediately, these effects and issues will likely have a detrimental impact on our future.

  Many politicians in power believe that climate change is a hoax. This has been proved undeniably false by countless scientists. In fact a part of the joint statement of international science academies states “The evidence comes from direct measurements of rising surface air temperatures and subsurface ocean temperatures and from phenomena such as increases in average global sea levels, retreating glaciers, and changes to many physical and biological systems. It is likely that most of the warming in recent decades can be attributed to human activities” Those who are reluctant to believe the truth should take into account those effects and other evidence such as ocean acidification and increasing numbers of intense rainfall events. Climate change is very real.

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  The presidential-elect Donald Trump, as many know, has vowed to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency. He has called Human-caused climate change a hoax, stating in a tweet on Jan. 29, 2016 that “Global warming is an expensive hoax!”  While he backed off of this statement calling it a joke, he has shown no signs of backing off his skepticism towards the matter as evidenced by his words on May 26, 2016 promising the people he would recall “all the job-destroying Obama executive actions, including the Climate Action Plan” and said he would “cancel the Paris Climate Agreement and stop all payments of U.S. tax dollars to U.N. global warming programs.”This belief that climate change is not a high stakes matter is undeniably false as proven by many different scientific associations  and academies ranging from the American Association for the Advancement of Science to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Despite this, Donald Trump has named Myron Ebell, someone who has stated that Climate Change is not an issue, to Head of the E.P.A transition team. Furthermore, his vow to cancel the Paris climate agreement, which involves more than 190 countries participating in this agreement with the intention of reducing their carbon dioxide emissions, puts the Earth in extreme danger. The United States is the second largest producer of polluting greenhouse gases. Without the participation of our country in this plan, the other participating countries will likely not be able to stop an extremely hazardous global warming with all of the devastating effects stated above.  

  I urge those who believe the evidence surrounding climate change and global warming to advocate for our planet. It is the only home we have. Our generation and the generations to come will simply not be able to live on this miracle we call home. Non-believers of climate change and those who have openly stated they will not fight it, i urge you to dig deeper and research what you may not be familiar with. We have not just reason but the responsibility to protect this vulnerable precious planet. I cannot but hope that this generation and those to come understand the significance and the importance of this cause and manage to convince those in power that we can not take so much as a single blade of grass for granted.

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