More to Earth Day than just climate change

By Malachy Stapleton
Special to Saltwire Network
April 21, 2021

You probably already know about global warming and climate change as serious
environmental issues, but what about some less talked about problems that are
having a serious impact on the earth right now?

Have you ever looked up at the night sky and noticed you can see a lot fewer stars
when you’re in the city than you can when you’re out of town? That’s light
pollution, and it happens when the night sky is brightened by human-made
sources like street lights. Excess lighting can be a waste of energy and it can
disrupt animal habitats in a big way.

For example, if an animal is nocturnal (like an owl), it hunts at night - but light
pollution can trick it into thinking it’s daytime. Some birds migrate or hunt at
night and light pollution can lead them off course or cause them to migrate at the
wrong time. Humans’ sleep can be affected by too much light at night, too.

Cellphones can also harm the environment. A study from McMaster University in
2018 found that smartphones are among the most damaging devices for the
environment, with 85 percent of their emissions coming from their production.
They contain precious metals that are often mined with environmentally
unsound practices and smartphones get outdated pretty quickly, so people buy
newer models.

Telecommunications networks and data centres consume a lot of energy to serve

you, and most data centres continue to be powered by electricity generated by
fossil fuels. “For every text message, for every phone call, every video you upload
or download, there’s a data centre making this happen. It’s the energy
consumption we don’t see,” said McMaster researcher and professor Lotfi Belkhir
in an article on the university’s website when his research was published.

Ocean acidification is another problem. UNESCO (United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization) says the ocean absorbs 30 percent of all the
carbon dioxide humans put into the air and that decreases the ocean’s pH. Acidic
oceans can harm marine life and that can mess up the entire food chain. Plastic
and other litter is already a problem for marine life; do they really need another
one?

A problem caused by global warming that we don’t talk about so much on this side
of the world is the shrinking freshwater supply. Oceanographer David Gallo said
something in a video posted on YouTube by The Atlantic that I found really
shocking: “If the earth was the size of a basketball, the amount of fresh water on
the earth would fit onto a grain of salt.” It is easy to see why we need to protect
our freshwater sources.

If you look at some of the environmental problems I mentioned, the future looks
grim unless we make changes. I try to think of things that I can do, even though
I’m a kid, to help and to raise awareness. Last year, for school, I created a project
called Poseidon’s Chest, where I make jewelry out of sea glass I collect (and
sometimes people donate to me) and I sell it to raise money for animal habitat
protection organizations. I have made more than $500 so far that I will be
presenting to the Newfoundland and Labrador branch of the Canadian Parks and
Wilderness Society. This year, during the COVID-19 lockdown, my teacher asked
us to work on a “passion project” to share with the class. I created a board game
called The Terrene Society, where people work together to solve environmental
problems.

I hope people will be inspired to learn about some of the issues facing our Earth
today and that we can all take steps to make sure our environment is healthy in
the future.

Junior reporter Malachy Stapleton, 11, is a Grade 6 student in St. John’s, NL. He is passionate
about environmental sciences.
 Reading Like a Writer
1. Read Malachy’s essay three times.

● First, read for the gist. Think: What is the main idea?

Write a few words about the gist:

To show that the world needs saving and if we sit around and ignore the fact that the earth
is dying, humans will only become a distant memory.

● Second, read for the details. Think: What are the important things being discussed?

Write some important words or phrases:

The important things being discussed are obviously climate change and pollution. The story
shows how you can improve these problems.

● Third, read as a writer. Think: What writing strategies does this writer use?

What strategies did you notice?

The story was written in first person and they used present tense.
2. Look at the structure of this essay. There are 9 paragraphs. What is the main purpose
of each paragraph? How many sentences are in each paragraph?

Label each paragraph using these terms:

Conclusion Example Introduction Problem Solution

Paragraph 1 Introduction//1 sentence

Paragraph 2 Problem//3 sentences

Paragraph 3 Example//3 sentences

Paragraph 4 Example//3 sentences

Paragraph 5 Example//3 sentences

Paragraph 6 Example//4 sentences

Paragraph 7 Example//3 sentences

Paragraph 8 Solution//6 sentences

Paragraph 9 Conclusion//2 sentences

3. Find the following:

a. Highlight in green the writer’s thesis statement. This is the sentence that contains the writer’s
main idea. Make it bold. (hint: It might be a question!)

b. Highlight in yellow each main problem the writer talks about. You should only highlight a few
words, not a whole paragraph!

c. Highlight in blue a quotation from an expert.

d. Highlight in pink a statistic that shows the importance of the problem.

e. Highlight in orange a question that is meant to make you think.

f. Highlight in purple any words you don’t know but you think are important to understanding
the essay.

g. Underline your favourite sentence in the essay.

h. Bold any words that work as transition words.

4. Respond to the following questions as a reader.

WHAT SURPRISED ME?

● I was shocked about… ● I was surprised when… ● I never thought…

WHAT DID THE AUTHOR THINK I ALREADY KNEW?

● I did not know… ● I was confused by… ● The author thought I knew…

WHAT CHALLENGED, CHANGED, OR CONFIRMED WHAT I KNEW?

● At first I thought...but… ● My understanding changed when… ● I was right/wrong about…