What We Can Do to Stop Climate Change Research Paper

Over the last couple of days, I have been doing tons of research on the topic ”Why is Climate change an issue and what can we personally do to stop it?”. In this blog post, I will be sharing with you my conclusions, most important information, and what you can do to help. The 3 sources that power most of our electricity are coal, oil, and natural gas. (source 12). 

As you can imagine, since we use electricity on a daily basis, we consume a lot of these natural resources without even thinking about it. 63 gallons of oil are used every year to supply the U.S. alone with plastic water bottles, more than 90% of these are only used once. Over 80 million tons of waste in America each year comes from plastic food packaging (source 1). So not only for our electricity but also for the things we effortlessly buy and use, there is a tremendous amount of pollution being emitted. On top of all this, the Bolillos rainforest has been reduced by half, over 3 billion trees have been cut down. (source 9) Also, the population of orangutans has recently decreased by ⅔ (source 9). As a result of our reckless actions, even the sea ice has reduced by 40% in the last 40 years (source 9). 

Now you may be wondering why all of this is happening. Well, Paper, food, petroleum refineries, chemicals, and metal/mineral products are the five industries that contribute the most greenhouse gases, according to a report. This is due to the fact that the use and combustion of fossil fuels are needed for various manufacturing and industrial processes. Since we use all of these so regularly, there’s no wonder the natural habitats are suffering. (source one) Another cause for these catastrophes and terrifying statistics is this: Cows and sheep have to digest harder food to process like grass, to do so, their stomachs are microbe-rich and have a process called enteric fermentation. The result of this process is methane. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and is released by burping or farting. Believe it or not, enteric fermentation is the leading source of methane emissions from human-related activities around the world. (it pollutes even more than the burning of fossil fuels). (source 6) At first, you might get the impression that one plastic bottle won’t hurt anybody, why should you care? That is a good question that I also asked myself at one point. We should all care because people are suffering all over the world right now. Florida for example, suffers “sunny day flooding” the water level increases greatly, there is water everywhere and lots of floods. (source 12). Regions all over the world will without a doubt be destroyed by the irreversible effects of small decisions we take now. When factories release dangerous greenhouse gases into the air it adds a layer of gas to our world's atmosphere. The sun’s radiations shine towards the earth and while some are being absorbed, some are being reflected back toward space. However, as the layer of gas thickens, more heat is trapped in our atmosphere resulting in a rise in temperatures and coral reefs dying. Forests are supposed to absorb much of the carbon in the air, but it is becoming increasingly hard as deforestation continues. 

So it will take action on a global scale to end the climate crisis, but how can we individually take part in this movement? We need to hold politicians accountable to put oil and profit as a priority on people and the planet (source 12). We need to reduce our carbon footprint (source 2). We must switch over to a circular economy in our homes, Research shows that creating a circular economy also offers a $4.5 trillion economic opportunity by avoiding waste, while also creating business growth and employment opportunities. (source 11) 

Another way we can help is to change our diets as much as possible to avoid red meat and beef. Spreading the word to as many people as possible is also very important as many people don’t truly know how our future and children’s future will be at stake. Having fewer children and creating no fish zones can also help to come back into balance and harmony with nature instead of against it. In conclusion, I learned so many things from this research project on how to personally take a stand for our earth and take responsibility for our actions. Both individually and as a species we must work together faster than ever before because we are in another mass extinction. A lot of food emissions are unavoidable. We have to eat. But we do have a choice of what not to eat.”( source 6) So I question you today, will YOU take the next step? The climate is changing, why aren't we? [Original source: https://essaytoolbox.com/grade-my-paper]