by Maeve O’Connell (6th grade )

Melting glaciers, rising temperatures—you’d be surprised how hot it can get here in Pennsylvania during the summer. And this is only being added to by global warming. In the summer it can feel like a dragon is breathing on you: so, so hot!

How it’s affecting the world as a whole

In a nutshell, carbon dioxide from factories and cars is building up and it’s too much for plants to turn to oxygen quickly enough, so it is now unable to escape from the atmosphere. Now, we have all of this unnecessary heat.

Even worse, Greenland, which is covered in ice, is starting to melt, which means the sea levels will rise even higher than it’s raised before. Imagine all those people who live on the beach: if the ocean rose something like 10 feet, so much land would be taken over by the ocean if the sea levels rise that much and possibly even further.

Why is this even happening?

Factories and cars can both produce incredible amounts of carbon dioxide;  imagine a car driving down a street, and on that street is a factory where both are producing a noticeable amount of smoke. 

Now that you have that in your head, let’s step it up a notch: now, imagine how many people are driving their cars right now, how many people are running factories right now. It’s almost terrifying to imagine that this could be the world that we could live in if nobody does anything about this.

What can we do?

There is only one solution that I can think of for this: if smoke and carbon dioxide is so harmful if we use too much of it, we can just try our very hardest to limit its use. Electric cars, for example, instead of releasing harmful gasses into the air, run on a rechargeable battery. This is just one of the many amazing things that we can do to try to fight global warming.

You know how some people go out of their way to do something good for the environment on Earth Day, but that isn’t the only day in the year. You can do things that help the environment more often than once a year, even though Earth Day is designated for this kind of thing, and over 1 million people help the earth get one step closer to balance again. We have a long road ahead of us if we wait every year for it to come around.

What effect is Global Warming having on the Antarctic?

Antarctica is usually described as one of the coldest places on earth, covered in ice, and the bitterest cold chilling you to the bone. You’d be surprised at the effect climate change has had on it.

Did you know that one of our main water sources is from glaciers or snowcaps? So what exactly would happen when they melt? Well, let me tell you, sea levels would rise- though not drastically;  sea currents would change because fresh water is being mixed in with salt water, and that—well let's just say that that isn’t what the ocean is used to. Besides, if you dump fresh water into salt water, a place where salt water creatures live, things won’t end well for the sea currents or those marine creatures.

Why Should You Care?

Everyone on earth is dealing with this problem. We are at the point where we can’t just dismiss it with a click of a button. This is our world, and we all rely on it, so it’s important to make sure that you help protect it from this looming threat that everyone’s hiding from.

We’re all in the same boat right now, so let's turn the tables on Global Warming and save our planet because this is a problem that won’t solve itself. We have to do something about it if we want things to change; we can’t wait for other people to do it for you. Most importantly, this isn’t something only one person can do on their own either, the whole world has the same goal this time.