To the Next President of the United States,
Our country currently has taken responsibility and leadership in managing many of this country’s problems. However, a problem that does not have enough attention directed towards it is climate change and global warming. Although some aspects of climate change are caused by natural things, it is mostly caused by human activities, such as the release of fossil fuels and carbon emissions. Steps should be taken to minimize the effects that have been caused by climate change and global warming.
Furthermore, this issue is vital to the future and development of the country and even the whole world because it affects the environment, the air we breath in, and animals. According to NASA, “Scientists have high confidence that global temperatures will continue to rise for decades to come, largely due to greenhouse gases produced by human activities.” Scientists also believe that sea levels will increase 1-4 feet by 2100. Evidently, the melting of the polar ice caps and glaciers causes sea levels to increase dramatically. This melting will also cause polar animals to die because of habitat destruction.
In other regions of the world, global warming has caused droughts to occur, drying up lakes and rivers, killing millions of fish, and also causing plants to die. As more and more plants die, less oxygen is given of for humans and animals to breathe. Carbon dioxide is increased in the air, polluting the whole earth, especially urban areas. Carbon emissions are also caused by vehicles burning fuel. The U.S. EPA says that “Greenhouse gas emissions from transportation primarily come from burning fossil fuel for our cars, trucks, ships, trains, and planes. Over 90 percent of the fuel used for transportation is petroleum based, which includes gasoline and diesel”. The large amount of greenhouse gases being trapped on the earth causes temperatures to soar, bringing about all the environmental disasters that were mentioned. Our attention should be guided towards this extremely important issue because it affects almost everything around us.
Multiple steps to reduce climate change and global warming can be taken to provide help to alleviate the effects of global warming on the environment. Most of global warming is caused by the emission of carbon dioxide. The NRDC brings up the point that “it’s important to remember the equally vital contributions that can be made by private citizens”. Aliya Haq, the director of the NRDC’s Clean Power Plan initiative says “Change only happens when individuals take action.” Subsequently, individuals can take a part in reducing climate change by maintaining vehicles that do not give off large quantities of carbon dioxide as regular fossil fuel-powered cars and other vehicles do. Countless steps are able to be taken to reduce global warming, but all that is asked from you is to spread the urgency of this issue and to start and support organizations that will help conserve our earth and everything on it.