04/27/07 Robin Ricci
P.6
Dear Tim,
I have been researching a lot about a topic called Global Warming. I think that this topic is very real and serious issue that faces our only home, Earth. I would like to share my research with you so that way you can realize the horrible reality of this concern.
To start with, heat waves and times of unusually warm weather are occurring in various places around the world and there have been a lot of this increase in temperature has occurred in North America. There have also been occurrences of warming in the oceans, sea level rising, and coastal flooding. Places that you would never imagine would be heating up are. For example the heating is happening in Antarctica and the Artic. All over the world, rivers are running dry, and coasts are eroding, and making it so peoples homes are in danger.
Secondly, for the longest time we have been burning coal, fueling cars, and emitting large amounts of carbon into the air. We are doing this faster than oceans and plants can absorb. The level of carbon in the atmosphere in now higher than it has been for hundreds and hundreds of years, and could be very dangerous. If this continues diseases will start to spread and coral reef bleaching will become a normal thing for marine biologists to encounter. There will also be a shortage on certain types of species, which could mean less food.
Also, the poles are warming and massive glaciers have been depleted to almost nothing. If we dont take action soon, temperatures could rise another 3 to 9 degrees by the end of the century. Sea levels will rise, flooding coastal areas. Heat waves will be come more often and will be harder to get through. Droughts and wildfires will occur more often. Disease-carrying mosquitoes will grow and spread. Some of the signs that are more dangerous than other are that forest wild fires are occurring quite rapidly and more frequently. Dust storms have occurred in various places because of the hot and dry climate. Floods have also been occurring recently.
Although it might not seem that global warming is not something that our generation has to worry about, studies show that massive melting will occur in the next 50 years that will cause many places, including Manhattan, to be totally submerged. Even the increase in heat will cause more heat related deaths. In 2003, extreme heat waves caused more than 20,000 deaths in Europe and more than 1500 deaths in India that is an extreme amount of deaths. Global Warming needs to be stopped because if we dont do something soon than that number could be tripled, quadrupled, etc.
I dont know how else I can stress the importance of this issue. I hope that this gives you some idea of what we are doing to our planet. This is our only home and we are destroying it. Every little person can make a difference in this issue if we join together and help. Some of our greatest and most cherished glacier national parks could be completely gone by 2070. Be aware of this issue and inform others about this. There are ways to prevent it, like walking to more places and possibly buying a Hybrid car. I understand that it seems like the Government wont change the things they do because oil is a major industry and many peoples jobs will be lost, but I think with enough people knowing the danger our Earth is in, how much we are in, we can sway them.
Sincerely, Robin
This is all of it. It was an essay we had to do for Science. Enjoy.
I don't get it.
