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Emily Gordon

Professor James Dunham

English Composition 1201

20 January 2019

Research Proposal

In 2018, the United Nations released an updated climate change report. The report

explained that if immediate action is not taken, the world will face irreversible damage by 2040.

The statistics shocked me and has been constantly in the back of my mind. The UN states that in

about 20 years, the atmosphere will increase by 1.5 degrees Celsius. This seemingly small

increase will have drastic effects such as extreme flooding and a surge of deadly natural

disasters.

The report inspired me to find out how I can personally make a difference. I have decided

that in an attempt to help reduce carbon emissions, I will go to college for chemical and nuclear

engineering to work on expanding cleaner energy sources. In order to prepare myself for a career

in energy, learning about the climate and what it will look like in a few decades is essential.

Understanding what future generations will face concerning the environment will allow me to

perform better in my career and have a bigger impact on reversing climate change.

I feel like climate change is one of the scariest things happening in the world today. The

path the earth is on as of right now will lead to detrimental results that future generations will

have to deal with. Before doing research, I think that the implications of not taking action are

very dangerous. I also think that more should be done to avoid irreparable damage. I believe that

climate change is one of the most important issues facing the world right now. Awareness should

be more widespread because this issue cannot be ignored any longer. I know that carbon
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emissions are a leading cause in the rising atmospheric temperatures. I also know that human

activity causes the largest output of these emissions.

There is a lot to learn regarding the environment and climate change. Primarily, I need to

learn what causes climate change and what the effects are. To start off research, I will need to

read the UN climate report as well as other scholarly articles regarding the environmental

changes. My research should be based on questions such as “How does climate change cause the

environment to change?” or “What will the effect of climate change be on future generations?”

This research project will hopefully give me a better insight on the consequences of climate

change and how I can do my part in reversing those effects.