Why Global Warming is our Nation’s Top

Priority:

Background Knowledge:

For the past 7-10 years there has been a lot of talk but no
action towards global warming. What is global warming, you may
ask? You see, there are 5 layers in Earth’s atmosphere: The
troposphere, stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, and the
out-most layer, the Exosphere. The Stratosphere is our
protective layer, also known as the ozone layer. It helps
protect us from the sun’s dangerous UV rays, which can cause
skin cancer, also known as Melanoma. The Homo-Sapiens, us, have
been polluting for a very long time, and it took a toll during
our era. All of our impurities caused a hole in the
Stratosphere, meaning the sun has more “access” to us. The hole
originally located itself above Antarctica. It is now pretty
self explanatory why the ice has been melting so rapidly. But
does that change the way we live?

Expert Advice:

Not many politicians pay attention to climate change,

that’s why many protest, and march to gain the government's
attention towards this pressing issue. Our president himself
doesn’t believe in global warming, due to “lack of evidence.”
Jay Inslee, an American politician, and Washington’s Governor,
states that global warming is the most urgent challenge of our
time. He convinced Democrats to allow renewable energy demand
for electric utilities in the Washington State Legislature. This
has led Washington to rank second in the “renewable energy
generation” category. According to Inslee,“The lessons of
history is that every single major social advance we’ve made in
our nation's history has taken years or decades, has taken many
losses before we have eventual wins — and that's the nature of
progress.” Grandoni, Dino. “The Energy 202: Climate Change Is
Jay Inslee's Top Priority in Washington. How Will It Play in
2020?” The Washington Post, WP Company, 4 Mar.2019, Washington
Post. He refers back to the man on the moon landing in the 60s.
He goes on about how climate change is a problem we must attack
now in order for our solutions to work in the future. The fact
that only one politician has said anything about this, what does
that say about or government?

How is it far more important than war?

Speaking of situations being “handled” by our government,

war is more dangerous than ever, considering the time we are
living in now. We have extremely advanced weapons, and medicine.
Yes, our country isn’t exactly allies with North Korea, which
may I remind you has very strong nuclear weapons, but there are
such things as negotiations. In order to withhold World War III,
we can negotiate. It won’t be easy, taking into consideration
that Kim Jong Un is very hard to satisfy, but we can adjust.
Yes, both problems affect our lives in like manner, but global
Warming will destroy us in a gruesome way that we cannot
imagine. It is still in our hands. Scientists say that we only
have 12 years to fix this until it is out of our hands. A
nuclear weapon can wipe out our whole country, but on the other
hand global warming can wipe out the entire planet. I have
compared and contrasted the importance of both war, and global
warming, and it is clear to see that climate change is more of
the pressing issue.

Person On The Street Interviews:

There have been a lot of interviews, asking people, what is

global warming, and is it a problem? 58% of people believe it is
a problem, but only 33% believe it is the most important problem
right now, and are willing to take action. So what do those
approximately 40% of people think? They don’t believe in it.
Some believe “global warming has the same epistemological status
as a religious belief,” states The Economist, meaning some
people think it’s real, and some don’t. So why don’t they? Maybe
it’s because most people asked might be living in the Midwest,
where they still have snow and ice. It can also be because of
religion. Some believe that God is in control of the Earth,
because he made it, or some just don’t have enough evidence. Did
you know that our own president doesn’t believe in climate
change, because there “simply isn’t enough evidence.” Until
scientists will find “a cure,” many will continue believe that
this is a hoax.

A Specific Example:

As Newton’s Third Law of Motion states, “Every action has its

equal and opposite reaction.” This statement that I learned in
physics also relates to the real world. The action itself being
pollution, and backfire reactions being stronger UV rays,
massive ice-cap meltings, ocean levels rising, risk of
extinction, fossil fuel shortage, and famine. Let’s talk about
one of the reactions, increasing ocean levels. North Carolina
being a state that borders with the Atlantic Ocean, is at risk
of many problems due to rising ocean levels. In North Carolina,
there are a lot of farmlands, meaning agriculture is high in
respect in that state. The ocean salt in some cases contaminates
countless farmlands. Scientists aren’t yet sure how the salt
actually gets there. One hypothesis that they came up with is
that strong winds blow the saltwater into ditches and canals,
which make their way through North Carolina’s soil. Another
scientific guess might be that supernatural storms, rained in,
or transferred saltwater into the states soil, and it takes a
long time to wash-away. Meaningless, because the unhealthy water
is fed to the crops, plants die, which in serious cases can lead
to famine, one of the other reactions from global warming, yet
we continue not to do anything.

Now what?

So what? You’re probably thinking right now, why should we

care? What was the point of all this information? But don’t you
want to live to see your children attend their first day of
school or go on to graduate high school? Didn’t you always dream
of buying your first house, or holding up your college diploma
proudly? Haven’t you ever dreamed of touring the world, admiring
the 7 Wonders of the World? Because if we don’t do anything, the
Great Barrier Reef will be nothing but white dust, at the bottom
of the trashed ocean. Won’t you want to tell your grandchildren
that yes, I was there when we were saving our world. That we’ll
all live to see another day. That we won’t have to suffer,
thinking about if there will be enough food left for us to eat
at the end of the day. If you answered yes to any of these
questions, take action! There are so many websites or posts on
instagram supporting the act to save our world. Writing this
essay I have learned many things! Our country has been part of
United Nations since 1945, an organization that includes 51
countries trying to resolve our worlds biggest problems. Big
firms like these are a great start to saving our lives, that’s
why we need to join them in order to survive. It’s so easy to
fall down the hill, and so much harder to climb back up. So,
what is your next action?