Hello. Ihope you are all doing well today. My name is Martin Muloski; I am a graduate student studying biology at the University ofIllinois at Springfield. Icome here. not onlyconcerned about my own generation. but every generation comingafter it. Ninety-seven percent ofthe scientific community is in agreement on man-made climate change. As a biologist Ican tell you that ifyou don't want to believe the scientists. youcan alwaysjustlook at nature. Animals ranging from tiny insects to large mammals are now moving to higher latitudes. Plant species around the globe are blooming earlier in the year. This is not a conspiracy puton by the butterflies and plants. The United Statesjust saw its hottest twelve months in recorded history. This is the new normal. Right now what we need to focus on is damage control and to minimize climate change as much as possible. There are some who may say we aren'tcausing it. that climate change occurs naturally. The Earth's climate changes in response to whateverthe dominant forces on the planet are at the time. In the past it was caused by a variety ofreasons: From volcanic eruptions to the activity oforganisms living on the planet at the time. Right now
we are the dominant force behind this change. Thishas been scientificallytested and proven. Once again the scientitic communityis in agreement on this. One ofthe most alarming things about this change in particular. is that past changes were usually very gradual. taking place over the course ofthousands. even millions ofyears. The change that humans arc causing is occurring in a geological blink ofan eye. This sudden change is dangerous tormany reasons; one ofthem being how a sudden change in temperature greatly effects the watercycle. Inevitably we are going to see wet areas. like Bangladesh. and Seattle experience more rain andcatastrophic t1oods. Dry areas like downstate Illinois and most ofthe Midwest, are going to experience much
more drought. I have lived in downstate Illinois for the past year. Afterreceiving an abundance ofsnowevery winter. they experienced virtually no winter this year. The local people I'vetalked to there are alarmed by this. Last summer centrallllinoisalso experienced a very devastating drought. One could not see a single green patch ofgrass for miles. What had once been healthy rivers and streams !lowingwith fresh water were now lowstagnantponds. Droughts caused by climate change are going to create big problems for agriculture and will likely lead to an increase in food prices nationwide. The price ofmany important crops, such as
corn. soybeans and grain will increase as a result. Theprice ofmeat will also increase since many ofthese crops arc used to feed livestock andotheranimals. Otherproducts that include
corn and grain based substances in their ingredients will also increase in price. A recent study from Stanford and Purdue Universities showedthe impact that climate change is going to have
on comwill greatly outweigh the impact caused by changes in oil prices. Many ofyou might be sick ofthe rise in gas prices or sick ofpeople complaining about gas prices.just wait until the American people are complaining about howthey can't afforddinner. This is why we must act
nowto prevent the economic. agricultural. and environmental problems that will occur in our lifetimes. As ofyesterday. May 23.2012. accordingto the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. the carboncontent ofthe atmosphere is currently three hundred ninety-three parts per million. To minimize the effects ofclimate change we needto get that number down to three hundred fifty parts per million. In orderto preserve this Great Nation. and civilization in its current state. we are going to need to make changes. About a hundred and fifty years ago Charles Darwin wrote a book that was so profound, accurate. and relevantthat it is still used by biologists today. Darwin would lay out the foundation for understanding survival when he said. '·It is not the strongest ofthe species that survives. northe most intelligentthat survives. Itis the
one that is the most adaptable to change." Thank you for yourtime.