NATURE: KS3 Commended

Kathleen in Year 8 urges us to rethink our impact on the planet in an article hoping we can preserve our wonderful nature.

Change: A 6 Letter Word for Hope

The world is so unique. We only have one. Even if we fail to acknowledge our slow and painful end…it's coming. We can’t cover up the mistakes we have made. It might not matter to everyone but it matters to me. Why don’t we look around us? Are we blind to what we have done? This world is crashing and burning. Not everything is about how big our machines can be or how many factories there are or what we can buy. Some things are about others. Like the tiniest creatures. They all depend on each other and need each other. Maybe there is no hope left. Maybe we have already killed the most important animals and plants. Maybe no one else cares? Have we already lost?

The world is already one degree hotter than it was in 1850-1900. In 2015, 196 countries signed to a single plan to help keep the global temperature from rising above 2 degrees or even 1.5 degrees. The Paris Agreement. It aims to deal with climate change and support countries in their efforts on a larger scale. World leaders need to work together to change what we are facing and eliminate heat-trapping carbon by 2050. But its not just in people’s best interest. This has gotten to the point where humans are out of the picture. This is about wildlife, nature and the world. If we don’t do something, sea levels are going to rise by 2100 along with the temperatures. If temperatures rise by 2 degrees, the sea level will rise by 1.8 feet. It is estimated that this will effect 1 billion people by the year 2050. Furthermore, if the temperature rises by 2 degrees, it will mean that 18% of insects, 16% of plants and 8% of invertebrates will be gone. Think about that.

So I’m sure we’ve all heard it. The ice caps are melting. Ahh! This is the end! Well, it's because they are melting to a worrying extent. In the arctic, average air temperatures have risen by 5 degrees over the last 100 years. Recent data shows that no summer sea ice cover will be left in the Arctic in the next few decades. And what about Antarctica? Well, the Antarctic ice sheet is the single biggest mass of ice on Earth and accounts for 90% of all fresh water on Earth, stretching to 14 million square km. This ice plays a massive role in influencing the world’s climate: reflecting back the sun’s energy and helping regulate global temperatures. This means that even small amounts of melting are going to have impact on the sea levels.

But…this doesn’t have to be the end. What if we could change it? What if we could fix it? What if we were heroes? It might sound difficult, but it doesn’t have to be…

These are some of the ways we can make a difference and change the future of Earth:

• We could limit fossil fuels and replace them with renewable and cleaner energy resources.

• Governments and large companies could to invest in low carbon transport systems.

• We could stop destroying forests to do our faming and instead plant back the loads of trees we have taken out to farm cattle and palm oil.

Except it’s more than that. We need to change the way we farm. One solution could be using new technology in farming like drones and hydroponics. Conversely, we could farm in the old way - using no fertilisers and having smaller farms.

More than anything, we need you.

Believe it or not you could make a difference: it could just be buying food that is in season or reducing how often you use a car to get places. Sometimes, even something as little as turning off your engine when you’re waiting for something can make a small difference that really adds up over time. If you want to do anything, the easiest and most effective thing you could do is to spread the word. Spread it to everyone. Maybe read this to your family. Maybe research climate change yourself. Maybe write to the government. Because you do have a voice and we need it to be heard. Thank you.