Imagine this: a world where everything is going wrong. Arctic and Antarctic animals are surviving on small ice caps, barely hanging on. Intense disasters like hurricanes, floods, droughts, storms are happening all around the world. Many animals are becoming extinct, and sicknesses are spreading around faster than ever. Our world may become just like this imaginary dystopian world where nothing is going right, all because of global warming. Every year, global temperatures have only been rising. According to Climate.gov, the 10 hottest years that have been recorded are all from after 2005. Our Earth is dying because of global warming, but luckily, we have produced solutions to help reduce and prevent this. Read more to find out about the problem and what some possible solutions are. 

Global warming and Its Effects

Global warming is an issue that will only become bigger and harder to solve. Right now, global warming is only causing increased problems for us and the Earth. Temperatures are getting higher, ice caps in Antarctic and Arctic regions are melting at an alarmingly fast rate, sea levels are rising, and an increase in extreme weather is happening because of global warming.  

Well, we have already been surviving with global warming happening, and we’ll probably find a way to adapt to it. If we can adapt to it, why do we need to care about it? All the things mentioned above can result in many other consequences such as animals being forced to leave their habitats and becoming extinct, food shortages, the possibility of dangerous diseases and bacteria spreading faster as the climate gets hotter, and communities in coastal areas being forced to evacuate due to rising sea levels that cause floods (Gale, The Effects of Global Warming). These issues can and will directly affect our societies and communities, and the only thing they will cause for us is trouble.  

In this photo by National Centers for Environmental Information, many places around the world hit the record warmest land and ocean temperatures, and most places experienced land and ocean temperatures much warmer than the average. All of this happened, in 2021. There are barely any blue areas, which are colder than average, which means that the temperature of the land and the oceans have only been rising.  

Causes of Global Warming

But what causes global warming? Why is it happening to our Earth? Well, many people already know that one of the biggest causes of global warming is greenhouse gases being trapped in our atmosphere. According to NASA, the greenhouse gases consist of four main gas types: H2O, N2O, CO2, CH4, and they are blocking the heat from escaping into the atmosphere. These gases come from various sources; fossil fuels burning, deforestation, cows and more. A lot of CO2 emissions come from fossil fuels burning. To create electricity and power for our cars, fossil fuels get burnt and that releases CO2 into our atmosphere. Even more CO2 gets released when we are driving, and by 2016, CO2 alone took up 74.4% of greenhouse gases (Our World in Data). Deforestation is also a main cause of global warming. Every year, 15 billion trees are being cut down (8 Billion Trees). Trees absorb the CO2 that gets released into our atmosphere, and in return, the trees give us oxygen. Each time a tree gets cut down, the stored CO2 inside the trunk gets re-released back into the atmosphere. Since we’ve been continuously cutting down trees, all this stored CO2 is coming back into the atmosphere, helping the gases that are trapping heat. A fully grown tree can absorb around 21 kilos of CO2, and it is estimated that over 1.36 trillion kilograms of CO2 get released into the environment (Iowa Tree Planting). Cow farming is another considerable influence. Cows release methane, which is a contributor to global warming. When cows graze together, substantial amounts of methane are released into the atmosphere by the cows burping or farting (World Wide Fund). All the causes listed above take part and contribute to the greenhouse effect which means the trapping of heat in a planet’s lower atmosphere.  

Then, here comes the bigger question.  How can we solve, prevent, and reduce global warming? 

Global Solutions!

There are many global solutions that can help reduce and prevent the world’s temperature from rising higher. Firstly, we need to convert major amounts of our energy from fossil fuels to wind or solar energy. Right now, the world’s main source of energy still comes from fossil fuels, which is a big reason why there is global warming.

This data chart by Our World in Data shows how fossil fuels are still the main source of energy around the world. While many countries are using renewable energies, the amount compared to fossil fuels is very obviously not enough. Renewable energies contain solar energy, wind energy, hydroelectric energy, tidal energy, and more.

Now, how can we put these energies to use, and why should we? Well, many countries are already using solar and wind energy to fuel their sources. Countries like China, United States, Germany, India, Spain and more have been slowly using wind energy to create electricity. Due to recent updates, it has been found that China is at the lead out of these 5 countries, with 342 Gigawatts of wind capacity installed. China holds over one-quarter of the wind capacity in the world. The 5 countries named have all already installed wind capacities of over 25 Gigawatts (Power Technology). Many countries still have fossil fuels as their main source of energy, but they are all working towards having wind energy as a bigger source. Wind energy is renewable energy, meaning that it’s an energy from a source that won’t be used up. It’s also very sustainable, as wind energy comes from wind, and it doesn’t cause any air pollution unlike the burning of fossil fuels. Lastly, the wind turbines that generate energy can be built on farms or ranches. Slowly, we’ll be able to use wind energy to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. As of right now, “ISB continues to be powered by 100% renewable electricity from two local wind farms located in Zhangjiakou City”, says ISB’s Sustainability Officer, Paola Alonso. The solution is to slowly convert most of our power sources to wind energy instead of fossil fuels.  

The next solution is to use solar energy. We can use solar panels to turn the sunlight into electricity. This is quite ideal, as the sun shines throughout the day, allowing the solar panels to receive lots of sunlight. The solar energy would then be used to power the house or area throughout the night. The top 5 countries in the world for solar power capacity are China, United States, Japan, Germany, and India. In 2019, it’s been measured that China has installed 205 Gigawatts of solar power capacity (NS Energy). There are many benefits of solar energy; it’s renewable, just like wind energy. The benefits are quite like wind energy, being that it doesn’t pollute the air, it can reduce our carbon footprint and our dependency on fossil fuels, and it is low cost and minimal maintenance. Now, unlike wind turbines, solar panels are very versatile where they can be installed, as they can be placed anywhere with sunshine (GreenCoast). Solar energy also helps developing countries, as they can help lower electricity expenses. Many villages in developing countries depend on kerosene lamps that not only supply poor lighting, but they also pose a health hazard with all the toxic fumes they emit. (The Borgen Project) Solar panels can take away that health hazard and provide the village with brighter lights during the night as they can absorb sunlight during the day. Many of the villages are in areas where the Sun shines brightly every hour, allowing an easy recharge for the light that’s needed at night. Kerosene lamps can also increase the risk of there being a fire, which could potentially destroy the environment and burn down trees. Using solar panels and solar energy can prevent these fires and health hazards for the villagers while also reducing carbon footprint and helping the world. Ms. Paola says that ISB is currently planning for the installation of solar panels. She also states that “With this project, we will ensure that some of our campus operations will have no impact on greenhouse emissions and will lower our school’s carbon footprint.” 

The final solution that can be achieved globally is reforestation. As mentioned above, deforestation is another big reason behind global warming. Deforestation happens because of issues such as creating land for livestock and agriculture and producing paper. In its 2018 special report, the International Panel on Climate Change has said that we need to plant at least 2.5 billion acres (about the area of Canada) of trees AND cut down on our greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the world’s temperature from rising beyond 1.5ºC (Popsci). Although this is more like a goal, there are many ways that we can help to slowly achieve that target. We can do this by reducing our paper consumption and recycling the paper that we use. According to the University of Southern Indiana, “if every American recycled just one-tenth of their newspapers, we would save about 25,000,000 trees a year.” That is only around 329.5 million people out of 7.8 billion around the world, as of 2020. If everyone around the world started recycling full pieces of paper, we would save SO MANY trees. We could also reduce our paper consumption, like using more than just one side after trashing or recycling the paper. As a lot of trees are also being cut down for space for agriculture and livestock, we could eat less meat as that could help the environment, even if it’s only for one day. Reforestation is replanting trees, and it would help the environment as we are making up for the trees that have been cut down. It might not be enough as of right now, but if we continue to reduce, recycle, and plant trees, we might be able to make up for all the trees we’ve lost already. 

Local Solutions That You Can Contribute to !

Now, you might be wondering how you can help reduce global warming as well. As mentioned about reforestation, there are many ways that we can help in our communities, even if they are just some small actions.  

Firstly, we can reduce our use of vehicles, or use public transportation when we can. While travelling short distances, such as to the local supermarket or to a shop nearby, there is no need for us to drive our cars there. As of 2020, 41% of carbon dioxide emissions for transportation are caused by passenger cars (Statista). Many people usually ignore the fact that this distance doesn’t really need to be travelled in a car but do it anyway. This can easily be resolved by either walking or biking, as nearby shops are all usually under 1 km away from the house. Biking and walking can bring both us and the environment many benefits. While we are walking or biking, you can absorb Vitamin D from the sunshine, release stress and unhappiness, meet friends, burn calories, and increase your blood flow. Although staying inside is indeed quite nice, being indoors all day can cause a lack in vitamins, which is extremely bad for our health. Vitamin D comes from exposure from sunshine, and if we don’t get enough, it “can lead to a loss of bone density, which can contribute to osteoporosis and fractures” (MedlinePlus). Bottled up stress can lead to sleeping problems, constant feelings of unhappiness and worrying, and it can even cause physical problems for us. Next, it helps the environment as we won’t be emitting as much carbon dioxide if we were to bike or walk instead of using our cars. This is reducing our carbon footprint as well as greenhouse gas emissions. You may say, “what about when travelling long distances?!” Well for that, we can always ride buses and trains. Although it may cost more money than if you were to just use your car, and it’s still emitting greenhouse gases, buses and trains can carry many more people than cars. If everyone on trains and buses decided to use a car to drive, imagine how much more carbon dioxide would be released.  

Next, we can save energy and electricity at home. Whenever we leave the room or house for an unspecified time, remember to turn off all lights and the air conditioning, as well as unplug anything that’s plugged in. We can also reduce our water consumption. Turning the lights on and off doesn’t really conserve any energy, and it’s better to just turn off the lights completely if we’re only leaving for a short time. If it’s still daytime, then we should use the sun’s natural light to brighten the room. It’s okay to keep the air conditioning on if you’re only leaving for a very short time but turn it off if you’re leaving for longer times. By unplugging our unused items, we can save a lot of energy and the cost will be shorter. According to Cnet, “Unplugging devices could save the average household up to $100 per year”. Reducing water consumption means taking shorter showers instead of long showers or baths and turning off the tap while reaching for soap and while we brush our teeth. Doing these can help save water, allowing it to be used for other purposes than to be wasted while we do other things. This helps lower the energy needed for all the water to arrive at our house, and it lets there be less energy used, which means less greenhouse gas emissions. Once again, doing this can also help save energy and conserve resources. There are lots of benefits to the environment as well. By doing these things, we can save energy and electricity. Saving energy means that you will be reducing the amount of power and electricity you are using, which can allow there to be less greenhouse gas emissions, and more of Earth’s natural resources are saved. We can also lower the chance of there being a water shortage by reducing our water use, as a lot of Earth’s water is in the seas, and much of the rest isn’t drinkable. Saving energy is also helping contribute to us having a healthy and happy environment.  

Conclusion

In the end, we’re only suffering the consequences of rising temperatures because of our past actions. It’s probably impossible to completely stop global warming from ever happening, but we can still try to prevent and reduce it. If we don’t start caring and try to make a change, then, in the future, the Earth’s temperature will only keep rising, until . Everything that’s already causing disasters for us will only continue, and the disasters will get more intense over time. Global warming is a big challenge for us to try to reduce and prevent, but we can do it if we make these tiny sacrifices in our daily lives to save and reduce our energy usage. 

Works Cited:

Alonso, Paola. E-mail interview. 27 May 2022. The email exchanged started on 5/23/2022 and ended on 5/30/2022

“The Causes of Climate Change.” NASA, climate.nasa.gov/causes/. Accessed 18 May 2022.

“Causes of Global Warming.” WWF Australia, www.wwf.org.au/what-we-do/climate/causes-of-global-warming. Accessed 18 May 2022.

Chrobak, Ula. “We can plant trees to save the planet. But it’s harder than it sounds.” Popular Science 150 Years, 8 July 2019, www.popsci.com/planting-trees-save-planet/. Accessed 31 May 2022.

“Deforestation Carbon Emissions: What’s the link?” Iowa Tree Planting, iowatreeplanting.com/deforestation-carbon-emissions/. Accessed 1 June 2022.

“Distribution of carbon dioxide emissions produced by the transportation sector worldwide in 2020, by subsector.” Statista, May 2021, www.statista.com/statistics/1185535/transport-carbon-dioxide-emissions-breakdown/. Accessed 5 June 2022.

“The Effects of Global Warming.” Gale Middle School Online Collection, Gale, 2022. Gale in Context: Middle School, link.gale.com/apps/doc/RFAWKL282665076/MSIC?u=cnisbj&sid=bookmark-MSIC&xid=58a507a2. Accessed 16 May 2022.

“5 COUNTRIES COMBATING POVERTY WITH RENEWABLE ENERGY.” The Borgen Project, 26 Feb. 2018, borgenproject.org/tag/solar-power-in-developing-countries/. Accessed 2 June 2022.

Fried, Nicole “Nikki.” “What conditions encourage bacteria to grow?” Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Nicole Fried, www.fdacs.gov/Consumer-Resources/Health-and-Safety/Food-Safety-FAQ/What-conditions-encourage-bacteria-to-grow. Accessed 17 May 2022.

Honeyager, Michelle. “Save $100 a Year Just By Unplugging These Unused Appliances.” Cnet, 3 June 2022, www.cnet.com/home/energy-and-utilities/save-100-a-year-just-by-unplugging-these-unused-appliances/. Accessed 6 June 2022.

Kilgore, Georgette. “How Many Trees Cut Down Each Year or in 2022? The Deforestation Crisis Explained.” 8BillionTrees.Com, 6 May 2022, 8billiontrees.com/trees/how-many-trees-cut-down-each-year/. Accessed 31 May 2022.

“Land & Ocean Temperature Percentiles Jan-Dec 2021.” 8 Jan. 2022. www.ncei.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/map-percentile-mntp-202101-202112.png. Accessed 25 May 2022.

Lindsey, Rebecca, and Luann Dahlman. “Climate Change: Global Temperature.” Edited by Jessica Blunden. Climate.gov, 15 Mar. 2021, www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-temperature. Accessed 5 June 2022.

McCloy, John. “13 Important Health & Environmental Benefits of Solar Energy.” GreenCoast, 11 Oct. 2019, greencoast.org/environmental-benefits-of-solar-energy. Accessed 2 June 2022.

“Paper Recycling Facts.” University of Southern Indiana, www.usi.edu/recycle/paper-recycling-facts/. Accessed 5 June 2022.

Ritchie, Hannah. “Sector by sector: where do global greenhouse gas emissions come from?” Our World in Data, 18 Sept. 2020, ourworldindata.org/ghg-emissions-by-sector. Accessed 18 May 2022.

Ritchie, Hannah, and Max Roser. “Greenhouse Gas Emissions.” Our World in Data, ourworldindata.org/greenhouse-gas-emissions#citation. Accessed 30 May 2022.

—. “Per capita energy from fossil fuels, nuclear and renewables, 2020.” ourworldindata.org/energy-mix. Accessed 2 June 2022.

“Top five countries with the largest installed solar power capacity.” NS Energy, 13 July 2021, www.nsenergybusiness.com/features/solar-power-countries-installed-capacity/. Accessed 2 June 2022.

United Nations Statistics. unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2016/Goal-13/.

Paris Agreement signed in April 2016 to raise global response to keeping global temperature from rising over 2º celsius and limit it to 1.5º celsius. Has data chart showing the plan for how the global temperature would decrease

70+% of Parties in UN Framework Convention of Climate Change have an adaptation component in their plan for action about climate change

Natural disasters have increased in frequency and intensity – more people have been getting affected by them

83 countries around the world have provisions in place in case of a disaster – they have been considering/implementing different systems including climate change projects/program, environmental impact assessments, payments for ecosystem services and laws for the protection of sensitive places.

Unwin, Jack, and Matt Farmer. “The top 10 countries with the largest wind energy capacity in 2021.” Power Technology, 14 Mar. 2019, www.power-technology.com/analysis/wind-energy-by-country/. Accessed 2 June 2022.

“Vitamin D Deficiency.” MedlinePlus, medlineplus.gov/vitaminddeficiency.html. Accessed 5 June 2022.

He only cared about himself and how everything would affect him. 19-year-old Matteo basically only cared about his own life, only worrying when the events would affect him, even through the 10 years of the revolution in his country.

The Mexican Revolution helped change the country from being controlled by dictators, to being a free country with their own elections and election systems. Throughout the 10 years of the Revolution, Mexico went through 5 presidents, Madero, Huerta, Gutíerrez, Carranza, and finally coming to an end with Obregon as president in 1920. Before the revolution, the citizens of Mexico were looked down on, working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no rests or holidays. There was a lot of food shortages, and investments in foreign capital caused extreme poverty for the civilians. After the revolution, in 1920,  a period of stability and political reform was brought to Mexico by Obregon.

In this project, we were tasked to create a short video about our revolutions in groups of 2-4. In this video, you can learn the major events that happened in the Mexican Revolution. We hope that you will learn more about the Mexican Revolution after watching our video.

Thank you!

I think I am 90% humanist as I agree with most of the topics that humanists in the 15th century believed in. I’m only 90% because although I agree with many of their points, I don’t question the world as much as they did, and neither do I think that balance between life and religion is that important. I believe that it’s better to focus more on daily life.

This found poem was made with the conversation between the two lovers in the story “Button Button”. In the story, Norma and her husband Arthur have an argument about the mysterious button that Mr. Steward had given them. If they press the button, someone they don’t know dies, but they receive 50,000 dollars. This argument is the first “crack” in their relationship, and by highlighting the main parts of their conversation, I helped to show how Norma’s curiosity clashed against Arthur’s cautiousness.

I tried not to add any color or decoration to the poem as I felt that the story had a very tense feeling to it, and in their argument, there were two main emotions: Curiosity and cautiousness, which is why under parts of the dialogue that Norma said, I added some brighter colors. But with Arthur, the color is plain black and it’s the same as the background.

When I’m walking around, I always notice plastic bags flying around. The plastic bags can get caught in trees and that ruins our environment. Governments should ban single use plastic bags because they damage the environment, kill land and sea animals, and carry germs. 

Governments should ban plastic bags because they damage the environment. Plastic bags and their production are one of the biggest contributors to climate change. Every year, 80% of the pollution in the oceans and seas are caused by plastic bags. Studies have estimated that the 80% is 8.3 million tons of plastic being discarded yearly. This is a lot of plastic in the oceans and banning plastic bags will reduce that number. Plastic bags can also clog waterways and drains. The clogging of the drains can cause bad smells and flooding from the waste. It’s possible the flooding will carry the waste stuck inside the drains. The odor is usually called plastic odor or waste odor, but it can do damage to the liver over time. If we don’t do anything about the plastic bags, they will ruin the waterways, the seas and our planet. 

Plastic bags can kill animals from land and sea. Lots of plastic bags can get into the seas and the oceans. Many marine animals get tangled up in those plastic bags and get choked to death. Over time, plastic bags decompose into tinier microplastics. Fish and other animals will mistake these microplastics as food, and then the fish eat the microplastics. Once we eat those fish, those microplastics will enter our body. Plastic is very harmful to the human body, and even a tiny microplastic can damage our vital organs like our stomach or our lungs. Plastic is already in our food chain, and an estimated 92 species of fish have already ingested that plastic. Soon, that plastic will take over our food chain and will kill off many species of animals.  

Plastics carry and spread many germs. The other side might say that plastic bags don’t carry or spread any germs because plastic bags are labeled as sterile since we can’t see the germs. This thinking is incorrect in many ways. Every single year, 400,000 to 1,000,000 people die of diseases related to chemicals from plastic. The production of plastic is also very toxic and dangerous to us because plastics include petroleum, and the process releases many chemicals. PVC is a great example. PVC is a very toxic chemical and it’s also known widely around the world as one of the most toxic chemicals released from plastic making for our health. These chemicals are very toxic and can cause pollution and damage to us, which is why governments should ban plastics. 

Banning plastics is something the governments should ban, because they really damage the environment, can kill both land and sea animals, and can spread a lot of harmful chemicals and germs. Having a plastic ban is good, because our one and only Earth might get ruined by them. 

Many people think it would be cool to be a demigod, but Percy Jackson can tell you otherwise. Percy Jackson is a character who is a demigod. Rather than being a hero and saving everything, trouble seems to find Percy instead. Percy would have a better life if he knew how to keep his anger at bay, found out the advantages of ADHD, and learned how to block out negative thoughts.

If Percy knew how to control his anger, he would have better relationships. “But I was so mad my mind went blank.” He says on page 9. Also, on page 53, he says “Anger replaced my fear. Newfound strength burned in my limbs – the same rush of energy I’d got when Mrs. Dodds grew talons.” This shows that whenever Percy gets very angry, he loses control of his emotions easily. This usually causes someone to get hurt, or to get himself in trouble. In the article by the APA, Dr. Spielberger notes the fact that, “The three main approaches are expressing, suppressing, and calming.”. He also says that “When none of these three techniques work, that’s when someone—or something—is going to get hurt.”. Many people can get hurt after someone’s anger gets out of control. Percy should also be very careful because the results of a study in 2000 which they watched 411 adolescents that showed the teenagers always expressing their anger have reported drinking more alcohol, being less active, and smoking cigarettes. This might happen to Percy if he doesn’t learn to control his anger.

Next, Percy doesn’t know that there are advantages to having ADHD. In Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief, on page 1, Percy says, “Am I a troubled kid? Yeah. You could say that.” Whenever Percy struggles with his ADHD he always thinks it is a bad thing. Percy believes that he is a very troubled kid and that his ADHD along with his other problems are bad and can’t help him. In the article by Karen Gibson, she states that “Differences in the brain are common. So we should try to understand them.” Many scientists and experts have found ways that ADHD can help the children succeed. The ADHD children can focus on many different things at once, and this can be very helpful. ADHD can really help Percy; he just doesn’t know that yet.

Percy will be better at learning once he learns to block negative thoughts. In page 18 of Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief, he says “The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the ????????? ????? ?? ????? ????????? across my dorm room.” Whenever Percy tries to learn, he always gets frustrated which causes him trouble with studying.  In the article by Kelly Roell, she states that “Negative thoughts make studying all but impossible. If you find yourself frequently repeating self-defeating thoughts, try reframing them into more positive statements:” which then she shows ways to convert negative thoughts into positive and boosting thoughts. If Percy doesn’t learn to block out his frustrations and anger, he will struggle with learning new things. Blocking out negative thoughts can help Percy, so he can learn better.

While Percy looks like an average middle schooler, he also struggles with all the trouble that comes after him because he is a demigod. To live a better life, Percy needs to know how to keep control of his anger, acknowledge the benefits of ADHD, and learn how to ignore all the negative thoughts. This advice can help fictional and non-fictional people that struggle with any of these problems.

Citations: www.apa.org/topics/anger/control

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3019061/

newsela.com/read/elem-new-ways-to-think-about-ADHD/id/41696/

https://www.thoughtco.com/steps-to-focus-on-studying-3212069

The project I created was an iMovie to show and present the different things I’ve experienced.

I organized my project so the readers would know how I felt during this time, then what i did during this time and the news i was watching.

This might be useful to other future historians so they can research about the time of the coronavirus pandemic using our information.

I am most proud of my performance proposal and my collage since I think i really expressed how i felt during this time.

I found that finding the right resources was kinda hard.

Here is the link to my iMovie= https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/9f1aaa26-e0f8-40cd-827d-f7cfed75f2d8

I drew this because of the coronavirus that is happening now.

My favorite song as a child was actually a lullaby that my mom would sing to me as I went to sleep. It is called Lullaby by Johannes Brahms.