Climate Change
Climate change is when temperature, amount of rainfall, winds, and other factors are in a general, not so usual, change.
If you've ever heard of a green house where plants grow, it is a house with specific panels on the roof are designed to trap heat from the sun and keep the plants warm with the suns heat even when it is night time. Those houses also have fans and vents that can cool the room temperature down if it is getting too hot to keep the plants from dying.
The Earth’s atmosphere does a similar thing. It traps the gases and emissions such as carbon dioxide, methane, and vapor to keep the temperature warm and stable throughout the night.
The problem now is that with all of the cars, factories, burning of fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal etc.. We are releasing an excess of gases into the air, so much that the Earth isn't able to regulate the temperature anymore. There are so many greenhouse gases trapping heat that instead the temperature is rising.
Woohoo better weather to go to the beach and less snow days right? Wrong!
Rise in temperature is creating many problems for us.
Glaciers, ice sheets, and ice caps where polar bears and penguins live are progressively melting minimizing their homes. All of that melted ice from the glaciers are being added into our oceans rising the sea level.
What does the sea level rising mean? That cities close to sea are in danger of being submerged under water or constantly flooding if we don’t react quick. Miami Beach developers recently had to invest $500 million to raise their sidewalks and replace the infrastructure of its gravity water system, all because of the danger sea levels are giving.
It is also:
Submerging crop fields making it more difficult for us to grow produce.
Causing more and more wildfires due to leaves lacking moisture and making their dryness more probable for a fire to catch.
Intensifying weather patterns such as floods, droughts, and worse - fueling stronger hurricanes.
Changing the oceans chemical make-up due to the gases and temperature, bleaching corals, killing reefs, killing species.
You can do small actions in your every day to make a difference in avoiding this.
Turn off your light when you are out of the room.
Ride a bike instead of a car to avoid pollution, it also reduces the need for gasoline which helps reduce off shore drilling for oil!
Plant a tree with your family to help clean our air.
Buy food from local markets which reduces factories and food manufacturers pollution. (it also ensure the food being organic and sustainable!)
Shower at shorter times.
*If you have any suggestions for other ways to help email us to have your ideas added to the page!*