Annika Schmidt von Wuehlisch, 16 years old, School: DHPS

Global Warming
Hundreds of polar bears have drowned in the past century- due to global warming. Ice provides shelter and food for polar bears and when the ice melts the bears are every so often forced to swim miles before they find the next ice float to rest on and find food. Many polar bears die of exhaustion while swimming and looking for ice. Climate groups predict that, as the Arctic continues to grow in temperature due to global warming, two thirds of the world's polar bears could disappear by midcentury. Carbon dioxide (CO2) has great influence on causing the warming effect on our earths surface. Additionally, it increases the evaporation of water into the atmosphere. Since water vapour is a greenhouse gas, this causes still more warming. The warming causes more water to be evaporated. The CO2 level is predicted to rise furthermore, due on going burning of fossil fuels and land use change. The rate of rise will depend on uncertain economic, sociological, technological and natural developments. Other gasses such as methane, CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) , tropospheric ozone and nitrous oxide also have great impact on global warming. Increase in all these gasses are caused by explosive population growth, growing urbanisation, technological advancement, increased industrial expansion, deforestation and most of all the ignorance or unawareness of people towards the fact that humankind is destroying earth. Trees play a significant role in the global carbon cycle. They remove carbon dioxide from the air and provide us with oxygen. Deforestation obstructs this positive process to a great degree. By the burning and cutting of 34 million acres of trees each year, deforestation is responsible for 25 per cent of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere. Approximately 80 per cent of atmospheric CO2 increases are due to mans use of fossil fuels either in the form of coal, gas or oil. A large portion of carbon emission is attributed to the burning of gasoline in internal-combustion engines of vehicles. Vehicles with poor gas mileage contribute the most to global warming. Effects of global warming caused by all these aspects are shocking. Glaciers that were considered permanent are melting, our rainfall patterns change and extreme weather conditions occur more frequently. As a result of the melting of glaciers the sea level has risen and will cause great problems of drinking water and food grains in the most North American countries. Additionally, due to the rise of sea levels, a lot of areas located at coastal regions and small islands will submerge in the sea. Extreme weather conditions cause natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornados, floods and droughts. Scientists believe that global warming can increase the intensity of hurricanes to over 50 per cent. Droughts cause malnutrition and starvation. Together with the vast growth of population this causes a big challenge before humanity. The expanse of deserts would increase. Low rainfall and rising temperature will immensely affect the quality of agricultural land, causing an confrontational effect on agricultural crop production. Flora and Fauna are affected strongest of all, as the rising of temperature, rising of sea levels and extreme weather conditions make it very difficult for numerous species to survive. Many species, such as the polar bear, are on the verge of becoming extinct.

Annika Schmidt von Wuehlisch, 16 years old, School: DHPS In the past century global warming has become a major concern and unfortunately only a few countries take action and try to avert further destruction. It is our job to spread awareness through speech and media and take immediate action! There are many things we can do to solve the problem of global warming. We can stop the CO2 emission by switching from coal, gas and oil to renewable energy, e.g. solar energy. Another solution is to plant more trees, as they absorb CO2 and produce oxygen., which isnt a greenhouse gas. A third solution is to recycle more products and consume organic products. By recycling products we can save a lot of energy as well as material. If we use less energy, we will produce less CO2. We can also reduce the use of CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), which are found in many household items such as plastic, foam, sprays and fridges. Also great care has to be taken when disposing older items containing CFCs. CFCs are 40 times more effective as greenhouse gasses than carbon dioxide. Therefore we have to take great care in getting rid of all products containing CFCs! In conclusion, if we make small changes now in the way we live, we can avoid worse changes in the future. Scientists, governments and individuals must work together as one in order to overcome global warming and not only ensure a bright future for the polar bears and ourselves, but also for all the other animals and plants of our stunning earth.