Kelly Ly

Science Period 9
4/18/2015
Climate Change: A Hot Topic
SUMMARY
Climate change is actually happening right now and is a serious issue for our
world today. If something is not done about it then the world can be put into danger.
Climate change is happening because of humans putting too much greenhouse gases
into the atmosphere which is making the Earth warmer. Climate change is going to
affect us humans and animals, so it must be put to an end. One way that can be a
possibility to stop climate change is by replacing paper and plastic bags with reusable
bags.
2014 is ranked the warmest year on Earth according to NASA and NOAA. The
reason for this is because of climate change. This is an issue because it can cause
many bad things to happen. Climate change can affect both human and animal life.
People should be educated on this because climate change needs to be stopped.
Though nothing is predicted that there will be serious harm now, it does not mean that
there wont be any in the future. Climate change can be stopped if we find ways to
replace things that release greenhouse gases, such as using reusable bags instead of
paper and plastic bags.
Global climate change is the recent rise in global average temperatures near the
Earths surface (http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/basics/). Climate change is caused
by different things. It is caused by the greenhouse effect, the rise in greenhouse gases
and because of human activities.

The greenhouse effect is the Earths atmosphere trapping in the suns heat. It
also traps in greenhouse gases which is carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous
oxide, and ozone. The greenhouse effect is not a bad thing, it keeps the Earth warm.
Without the greenhouse effect the Earths temperature would be zero degrees
fahrenheit and that would mean that all of the oceans would freeze into solid ice and
humans wouldnt be able to survive.
The only problem with the greenhouse effect is that if there is too much
greenhouse gases then it can thicken the Earths atmosphere which makes the Earth
warmer. Greenhouse gases have been increasing mainly because of human activities.
Humans have been releasing fossil fuels and that puts CO2 into the atmosphere.
Because of the advancement of technology now, humans have been using more power
and that puts a lot of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Ever since the industrial
revolution started, carbon dioxide levels have been increasing drastically.

(Source of graph:
http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/eoc/special_topics/teach/sp_climate_change/p_keeling_curve)

People need to be educated on this problem before its too late. If climate change
isnt stopped sooner or later the Earth will enter many difficult situations. Since the
global temperatures are increasing so do the ocean temperatures. Because of the
ocean temperatures increasing ice sheets will melt and that causes the sea levels to
rise, according to NASA the rate of change is 3.19 mm per year. There also will be
ocean acidification which is caused by the oceans intake in carbon dioxide. Climate
change will also cause a shift in seasons and extreme weather.
Existing challenges is getting people to actually put an attempt into stopping
climate change. This is a difficult problem to address because not many people are
educated about climate change. Also because its hard to stop people from doing things
that they basically do everyday. People nowadays use a lot of technology and are used
to using it everyday. Some people dont know that the amount of technology that is
being used does not put a good input onto the Earths environment. Its hard to
persuade people to change their lifestyles into a eco friendly lifestyle. Also change does

not happen quickly, it happens through a period of time but it can happen more faster if
more people are trying to stop climate change.
The Problem
Global climate change is a problem. It is happening because of the rise in
greenhouse gases. A big reason for why the level of greenhouse gases are increasing is
because of human activities. If global climate change continues to happen then there
will be many consequences such as a global temperature increase, polar ice caps
melting, a shift in seasons, and many more. Humans are the main reason for global
climate change but they can also stop it.
Our Solution
People should start taking action on this problem. Our way of taking action is by
getting grocery and local stores to replace the plastic and paper bags they have with
reuseable bags. In order for this to work we have a plan. Our plan is to first gather
materials to make the reuseable bags and then to make the bags. There also needs to
be a design and brand name for the bag. Once that is done we need to advertise the
bag. There will be costs to the solution, like buying the material and spending money on
advertisement. This will be funded by the consumers of the bags and there also will be
fundraisers. The production will start small and then hopefully grow out to sell
everywhere for everyone to buy.
(Source of picture: http://www.simpleecology.com/eco/paper-or-plastic-shopping-bags )

Paper and plastic bags are not good

for the environment because they both cause
problems for the Earth. Cutting down trees to
make paper bags puts Co2 into the atmosphere which causes the atmosphere to
thicken and that makes the Earth warmer. Plastic bags are constantly thrown out and
its estimated that plastic bags take a thousand years to decompose.
The reusable bags that are going to be used for this solution will be made out of
a material called jute. Jute is a natural fiber with a golden and silky shine. Jute comes
from the stem and outer skin of the jute plant (http://freesetglobal.com/custom/jute.html).
If jute is thrown away it decomposes, which puts its nutrients into soil and jute can also
be recycled.
Case Studies
There have been similar solutions to ours. One solution out there is that Japan
passed a law that empowers the government to use warnings to merchants that
overuse plastic bags (http://environment.about.com/od/recycling/a/reusablebags.htm).

This plan probably had some success because Japan has a population of 127.3 million.
Another thing that is similar to our solution is that there is a business online named
Freeset where people can customize their own reusable bag. There business seems to
have some success because on their website, freesetglobal.com it says, the business
now produces around 1000 bags a day. Its great to see that there are similar cases to
our solution. Because it means that there are other people out there who are also trying
to stop global climate change and if climate change isnt trying to be stopped then there
will be many consequences on Earth.

Make a Change
2014 may be the warmest year on record and if we put some action into climate
change we can keep it that way for the future. Using reusable bags instead of paper and
plastic bags can help put an end to climate change. It may not seem to put a big impact
into stopping climate change but if many people buy reusable bags, then slowly the
amount of CO2 can decrease. There may not be any serious changes right now but if
we keep waiting to see those changes happen then it might be too late to stop them.
Climate change was started by humans and could be ended by humans. Stop climate
change before it changes us.