Global Warming and Pollution - June
- Jessica L
- May 29, 2020
- 3 min read
GLOBAL WARMING AND POLLUTION - JUNE ARTICLE
Because of global climate change, sea ice cover in the Arctic has shrunk by a lot in the past few decades. According to the source, the minimum of sea ice from 3.02 million square miles in 1980 has shrunken to about 1.4 million square miles in 2012, in just 32 years! As this ice melts, this causes problems for animals that live in the arctic and us humans too.
Now imagine this: all of the world's ice melted. What would this cause? The world's oceans would rise 216 feet, causing us to be underwater. For a more clear visual of how much this is, this amount of water is about the length of 12 giraffes (216 feet), 5 school buses (200 feet), and the length of 6 orcas (192 feet). We wouldn't want to be underwater, right?
What animals could be affected? Animals that could be affected include polar bears, the American Pika, and the Gila Monster. Polar bears will be affected due to a reducing habitat and prey, while the American Pika is affected due to rising temperatures and makes it harder to find food. Lastly, the Gila Monster will have not enough water to survive because of hotter and drier conditions. These are just a few examples.
PROTECT OUR PLANET! (TIPS TO HELP SAVE THE EARTH)
Although you are just one among billions of people, if one person makes a difference, it is a difference! It can help save the earth by even the slightest! Now, do your part!
Take a Walk (skip a car ride, cut back on air pollution)
Drink from reusable water bottles (reduce plastic bottle usage)
Use reusable shopping totes (less plastic hazards to the environment) (plastic bags could take around 10-20 years to break down!)
Eat everything on your plate! (wasted rotten food releases harmful greenhouse gases, a form of pollution) (check below to see "Trash Breakdown")
Use laptop computers instead of desktop ones (laptops use 50-90% less energy than desktop computers)
Pick up some trash in the environment (Go to any local park, playground, creek, etc.! Pick up some trash before some animals get harmed, and it will help the environment! You will also get some fresh air too!)
Use cold water to wash laundry and hang laundry on a clothesline (uses less energy)
Use cloth napkins (reduce one time use paper napkins)
Take shorter showers (less water and energy used!)
Turn off the light when you leave a room (you could reduce your bill and help the earth!)
There are many more ways that you could help the earth become better.
WHY IS POLLUTION SUCH A BIG DEAL?
Pollution can affect all living things on earth in different ways. People can die from diseases linked to air pollution and even one billion of the world's people don't have access to clean drinking water. It isn't easy to clean up the pollution we put into the air, because what ever is released into the air can have a lasting impact. To prevent this, you can use some of the tips above to help, as pollution is related to global warming.
TRASH BREAKDOWN
Keep in mind that just because you throw your trash in the trashcan, it doesn't mean the item is actually gone forever. Check below to see how long it can take these below items to break down.
Banana Peel = 2-5 weeks
Apple Core = 2 months
Wool sock= 1-5 years
Plastic Bag = 10-20 years
Leather = 50 years
Rubber Boot Sole = 50-80 years
Aluminum Can = 80-200 years
Plastic fishing line = 600 years
Glass bottle = 1 million years or more
How can we help in some way? Although rotten food can release bad greenhouse gases, you can also make a compost pile to help!
Source used for all above information: National Geographic Kids Almanac 2018, Going Green, pages 94-101
Proper Citation for above source: Bohn, John, Catherine Milbourn, Brad Scriber, Paola Segura, Cid Simoes, Wes Tunnell, and Natasha Vizcarra. National Geographic Kids Almanac 2018. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Partners, 2017. Print.
Check out www.nationalgeographic.com for more.
Great donating sites for this month's global warming and pollution topic:
June's topic released early!
Check out more ways to help the earth reform here!
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