Introduction

Hook: “Humanity faces many threats, but none is greater than climate change. In
damaging our climate, we are becoming the architects of our destruction. We have the
knowledge, the tools, and the money (to solve the crisis).” -King Charles III, U.K. This a
quote from the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, King Charles III, but is he
correct? Are we indeed the ones responsible for our destruction, or is it simply nature
taking its course?

Background Info: According to the United Nations, climate change refers to the long-
term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns on earth. The earth has undergone
warming and cooling phases throughout its history, with forces such as the sun's
intensity, volcanic eruptions, and naturally occurring greenhouse gas contractions.

Claim/Thesis: But while these shifts in temperature and weather may have been
natural at one point in time, now ever since the 1800s, climate change is currently being
driven beyond its original state of equilibrium by human activities, such as the burning
of fossil fuels for energy production, manufacturing, and transportation, deforestation,
and our day-to-day consumerism.

Body

Argument 1: We can't deny that humanity in the past century currently runs and lives
on the burning of fossil fuels. From energy production, the powering of our
transportation, and our industrial and mechanical processes. But how exactly does the
burning of fossil fuels effect our environment?

Evidences: The burning of fossil fuels refers to the burning of oil, natural gas, and coal.
We have been burning fossil fuels since the 1700s, but now we burn over 4000 times
more fossil fuels than in the 1700s, enough to cause immense disruptions to our
environment. When we burn fossil fuels, they primarily release carbon dioxide into the
air and eventually into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, and as a
greenhouse gas, once released into the atmosphere, it traps heat from the sun in our
atmosphere, causing global warming. Global warming leads to rising temperatures,
increasingly severe storms, the loss of various animal species, human displacement, and
the melting of polar glaciers resulting in warm, rising sea levels. Additionally, according
to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), in 2009, 1.4 metric tons
(1400 kg) of carbon dioxide per person was released into the atmosphere. And now,
according to World Economic Forum, as of 2022, there is 417.2ppm of man-made
carbon dioxide concentration in our atmosphere. Therefore, with all of this in mind, it is
clear that humanity's constant reliance as well as burning of fossil fuels has had its part
in causing climate change.

Argument 2: Humanity, ever intending to further our interests, has trampled over and
destroyed nature, time and time again. None is more evident than deforestation, but
what exactly is deforestation, and what is its role in climate change?

Evidence: Deforestation refers to the purposeful clearing of forested land that is

converted for non-forest use. One prime example of deforestation is the Amazon
rainforest, where according to the Time magazine article: Why Is The Amazon Rainforest
Disappearing? 17% of the Amazon rainforest has been lost to rampant deforestation,
with half of the land going toward the cattle industry. Further research from the Global
Forest Watch states that from 2001 to 2021, the world had lost 437 mega hectares of
tree cover globally, and 28% of tree cover was lost in areas where the dominant drivers
of loss resulted in deforestation. But what does the loss of these forests have to do with
climate change? As trees and other plants grow, they help absorb and sink carbon
dioxide in our atmosphere that would otherwise contribute to global warming in a
process called photosynthesis - the process of transforming water, sunlight, and carbon
dioxide into oxygen. The Amazon rainforest is called the "Lungs of the Earth." Whereby
its trees absorb tons of carbon dioxide each year, slowing climate change and producing
roughly 20% of the Earth's oxygen. However, when deforestation occurs, carbon dioxide
stored within trees is released back into our atmosphere, thus perpetuating climate
change. Therefore, with the evidence before us, deforestation and human activities are
one of the root causes of climate change. By damaging our planet's natural filtration
system, we deprive ourselves of clean, breathable air and trap ever-increasing levels of
carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.

Argument 3: Humanity always consumes, and in today's world, humanity's many basic
needs are fulfilled by our vast industrial processes, from the propagation of agriculture
to the manufacturing of processed food and the production of clothing. Our modern
world and its systems provide us with plenty of consumer products. However, our
rampant consumerism in the past decades has left a 12have consumed too much.

Evidence: Food production produces emissions, mechanized equipment, and

machinery, such as tractors, field harvesters, and fishing boats, all run on fossil fuels.
Similarly, growing crops, too, produces carbon dioxide and methane emissions, namely,
fertilizers and manure. And even cattle farming releases methane, a greenhouse gas.
The transportation of products and people relies heavily on fossil fuels. Whereby
according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, a usual passenger
vehicle emits 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year in the United States of America
alone. And have you ever thought of where and how our waste is disposed of? Most of
our solid waste, like plastics, clothing, and old furniture, ends up in landfills, where it
either slowly decays or is incinerated. As solid waste in landfills decays, they produce
Landfill gas (LFG), a natural byproduct of decomposing organic matter in landfills where
50% of LFG is composed of methane. And the other 50% is composed of carbon dioxide,
both greenhouse gases. Additionally, according to a report from the World Economic
Forum titled: "What can consumers do to help solve the climate change crisis?"
Consumers are responsible for 60-70% of all direct and indirect emissions. Therefore, it
is evident that the production and consumption of our goods, directly and indirectly,
contribute to climate change.

Counterargument & Rebuttal: While evidence states humanity's involvement in not

only perpetuating but also causing climate change cascade beyond its original intensity,
some may argue that climate change is natural and that what we're experiencing now is
simply a part of the Earth's natural temperature and weather shifts. While it is true that
climate change can be and has been caused by natural phenomena, such as volcanic
eruptions, fluctuations in solar radiation from the sun, tectonic shifts, and changes in the
Earth's orbit, however, despite the evidence of natural climate change, none of the
previously mentioned natural phenomena have taken place on a large enough scale to
directly or indirectly be the main cause climate change. The sun has not, in recent
history, released a large enough amount of radiation to cause a warming of the planet.
The last three cooling periods on Earth caused by volcanic eruptions took place in 1641–
1642, 1667–1694, and 1809–1831. Tectonic plates have not experienced any major
shifts to form major volcanoes to erupt and contribute to a change in the climate. And
lastly, according to the Milankovitch cycle, a cycle that includes the eccentricity of the
Earth's orbit and axis tilted with respect to its orbit, shows that with the Earth's current
planetary movement, the Earth should currently be undergoing a period of cooling,
instead due to human activities, the Earth is now warming. Therefore, it is evident that
human activities are responsible for climate change and that it is not simply nature
taking its course.

Conclusion

Summary of Thesis/Main Argument: To conclude, climate change was once a

natural part of the Earth's process, but now, due to our human activity, we have
engineered our destruction, which has caused the Earth's global climate the change
drastically. From our self-destructive yet necessary acts of burning fossil fuels to meet
our energy needs and power our industrial capacity to the destruction of nature and to
our rampant consumerism, we are the greatest threats to ourselves.

Quotation: However, to quote King Charles III again, "We have the knowledge, the
tools, and the money (to solve the crisis).”

Call to Action: If we are capable of engineering our destruction, then we must be able
to craft not only a solution to climate change but a brighter future for humanity. Climate
change affects not just humanity now but also the generations of people after us. It is
our shared responsibility to take care of our planet, and I call on all of humanity to join
our fight against climate change, to emit less, and consume less, as we all have a part to
play in preventing climate change for the future of humanity.