Global Warming:

What Are the Effects and What Can Be Done to

Fix It?
By Kaitlyn Flippin

Summary
This is a summary written to the students, parents, teachers and administration at Pattonville.
The purpose of this proposal is to make people aware of the effects of global warming on our
environment and what they can do to fix it. The purpose is also to make these people aware of
how they specifically contribute to global warming and possible solutions.
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Goals

1. To persuade people to do research on this topic and understand how their daily activities
can effect the environment, in good and bad ways
2. To encourage involvement in climate activism
3. To persuade people to find ways to decrease their emissions and energy consumption

Problems Surrounding Emissions

Rising Temperatures
Earth’s average annual air temperature has been constantly rising over the years and has
many negative effects on the environment. Each decade since 1960 has had warmer
temperatures than the decade before it, and the past 3 have been the warmest so far. This
warming causes damage to the atmosphere and the climates. The greenhouse gases that cause
this also create “climate feedbacks”. Climate feedbacks are reactions in the climate system from
these emissions and can “more than double the warming caused by carbon dioxide alone”.

Some of the causes are uncontrollable, but others have to do with human activities and
can easily be rectified.

NASA scientists have done experiments and simulations to better understand the
warming and the effects. They build computer models to show the interactions between the
different parts of the environment and the variability between these models and the levels of
warming growth in different scenarios.
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Habitat Disruption and Effects on Animal Life

This warming doesn't just cause damage to the atmosphere. It also causes habitats to be
destroyed or made uninhabitable and causes animals to lose their homes. Because of global
warming, habitats have been forced to change, which lessens their ability to support animal
needs. Warming can affect the temperature of the air and water and impacts the plants and
animals that depend on it. Human activities haven’t helped this, as the growth of industry has
increased the same emissions that can cause this warming. Additionally, the increase in roads
and buildings takes away alternative habitats for these animals.

The warming also causes animals to change their routines, both migratory and
reproductive, to be able to keep up with the changing environment. This can even threaten
species and cause some to become endangered or extinct because they can’t keep up with these
changes.

Global Warming Can Negatively Affect Resources

Warming caused by emissions and other aspects of global warming can cause things like
rising sea levels, extreme weather and decrease valuable resources like food and water. The
warming and these events can cause irreparable damage in many ecosystems, which makes it
harder to keep up with the demand for natural resources. Some rely on these resources for their
livelihoods and a decrease in resources can cause them to lose food, money and more. This also
causes more competition over these resources and makes them more limited.

Emissions Can Increase Extreme Weather Events

As we’ve seen over the years and even over the past few weeks, weather events and
storms have gotten more drastic and dangerous. While this could be caused by a number of
things, the main cause is the global warming trends and climate change. As global warming
continues to get worse, these weather events get worse and happen more frequently. These
events include abnormally high amounts of rain and snowstorms, high levels of wind, heat
waves, tornadoes and more. These events can also cause other events to occur, continuing this
cycle.
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My Proposal

Possible Solutions:
After much research, I was able to find a large number of different solutions. Some
aren’t realistic for everyone, but most can be easily accomplished. Things like using sustainable
products or carpooling places seem to be the easiest to do. Sustainable products do cost more,
but they aren’t unattainable for most people. Carpooling is another simple solution because all
it requires is that people drive places together, rather than using multiple different vehicles that
are all going to the same destination. You could also take public transportation like buses and
trains. Other solutions could be using cleaner energy, or even energy efficient vehicles. These
vehicles tend to be pricier, so while not everyone is able to use them, those that can should do
so. You can also talk to your representatives to petition for policies or laws to be put in place to
limit emissions. You can also decrease your water and energy waste. This is as simple as taking
shorter showers, not leaving water running and turning off lights and appliances when not in
use. Another solution is to conserve energy used in heating and cooling by better insulating
buildings and replacing appliances with ones that are more energy efficient. Additionally, some
can use solar panels for energy. These are much cleaner and better for the environment than
most other sources of energy and aren’t extremely hard to come by.

The Plan
I plan to begin by informing the students and staff at Pattonville highschool about the
effects of global warming and how it can affect them specifically. I plan to provide resources for
those who want to learn about these effects and become more involved in climate activism.
Most of the proposed solutions are attainable for everyone, but most don’t have this
information. WIth this information, they can become aware about how the things they do in
their lives can increase emissions and what they can do to limit these emissions and waste.

The End Goal

Ultimately, what I hope to accomplish with this proposal is to educate the students and
staff at Pattonville about the harmful effects and the many possible solutions. If action is not
taken to resolve the problem, it will continue to get worse and continue to damage the
environment and atmosphere. While some solutions are not realistic for some, like energy
efficient cars, most solutions just involve small changes in the way we do things. A good place
to begin is to carpool to school, work, and social events.
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I also would like to be able to display this information around the school and online so
that everyone has access to the information and can share it to spread the knowledge. This can
be done with infographics, social media posts, or even an article on the school website. While
everyone may not take action, providing this information helps those who are willing to
advocate for this issue.

Link to my Website: Make A Difference: What You Can Do To Reduce

Global Warming
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Works Cited

“Global Warming Effects.” Environment, National Geographic, 3 May 2021,

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/global-warming-effects.

Herring, David. “What Can We Do to Slow or Stop Global Warming?” What Can We Do to Slow
or Stop Global Warming? | NOAA Climate.gov, 29 Oct. 2020,

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/what-can-we-do-slow-or-stop-global-warm
ing.

Levy, Robert. “Global Warming.” Edited by Paul Przyborski, NASA, NASA, 3 June 2010,
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/GlobalWarming/page5.php.

Rinkesh. “45+ Easy and Simple Ways to Stop Global Warming and Reduce Earth's Temperature.”
Conserve Energy Future, 10 July 2020,
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/stopglobalwarming.php.

U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “Does ‘Global Warming’ Mean It's
Warming Everywhere?”, 2014.