Our Children’s World
By: Cassidy Krill
Tags: Climate Change, Global Warming

Things are always in a constant cycle of change. Everything we come in contact with in our lifetime will change in some way, whether it be positively or negatively. The place that we live though, in regards to location, that isn’t changing. Everyone who has lived before us, and until we can establish a safe place for life elsewhere, everyone living now and in the future will live on Earth. As common people, we don’t have the ability to change that, but we do have the ability to impact the planet we have to live on. We can all collectively make the choice to either positively or negatively impact Earth and its conditions based on our conscious daily actions. We have the power to shape the place we live for the generations living now and generations to come.

Biologically, parents are programmed to do everything humanly possible to protect their children and give them their best chance at success and the greatest life they can possibly give them. They sacrifice their own well being in order for their children to have a slightly better life. They wear the clothes from Goodwill so their dependents can walk around the world in brand new clothes. If it meant their child eating a full, healthy meal, they would skip a meal if they had to choose if they or their child ate dinner one night. Parents bend over backward for their children, trying to provide them with the happiest and healthiest life possible. One factor they forget to look at though in their child’s quality of life, is a factor that they can’t control by themselves. Making sure their child and the children they will possibly produce are living on a safe, healthy planet is something that parents look past, but an initiative that requires everyone to play their part in. We spend too much time making sure our immediate environment is clean, safe, and secure, but tend to forget to look at the big picture and ensure that the place we are all living, and will all live, is the best version it can possibly be. Climate change is real and it is the result of our deteriorating planet. It is a huge issue in our modern world because if we don’t find ways to cure it now, future generations are going to be living in a dying, run-down world. Every one of us living on Earth needs to start doing our part in the slow of climate change because our actions today and tomorrow will determine the quality of life we will be giving the future generations living on Earth, which will include our loved ones, like future children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

People like to pretend climate change doesn’t exist. We think that since we can’t see big enough changes happening right in front of our eyes in the span of our lifetime, that it’s not a thing important enough to concern ourselves with. Except that is it. Our actions today in regards to deteriorating the Earth will ultimately affect the future generations of a few decades to come. This is because there is a time lag between what we do and when we feel it. As we keep advancing as a nation, we are finding out about and inventing more advanced and new technology and weaponry, which is great, but a lot of these new inventions are emitting huge amounts of greenhouse gases. It takes a long time for the planet to respond to these emissions of harmful chemicals, because carbon dioxide, one of the main gases that trap heat and is responsible for global warming, stays in the atmosphere for centuries, not affecting the environment immediately (“Is It Too Late…”).

Over time, we have been able to determine that the sole attribution to global warming and climate change is the expansion of the greenhouse effect. A collect number of gases we put out into the environment block heat from escaping the atmosphere. These are referred to as greenhouse gases, which include water vapor, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and methane. As humans, we are the main contributors to how much of these gases are produced and released into our atmosphere. Water vapor is a direct indicator of just how much our planet is warming. It is the most prevalent greenhouse gas and increases in volume, through clouds and rain, as Earth’s temperature increases. Carbon dioxide release is natural and occurs from some natural processes, such as the eruption of volcanoes. The excess production of this gas though that is causing harm is coming from man-made processes, such as the destruction of forests and burning of fossil fuels. Methane is far less abundant than carbon dioxide, but exponentially more active. It is produced through the decomposition of waste in landfills and the management of manure that is associated with farming and livestock. The last key greenhouse gas, Nitrous oxide, is formed from the use of fertilizers throughout landscaping purposes. It is also produced from the burning of biomass and the combustion of fossil fuels. Human activities are changing the natural course of the greenhouse effect and will cause hard to predict effects on our environment and atmosphere (“The Causes of Climate Change”).

The effects climate change is having on our environment is more severe than most may think. In many countries, we still greatly depend on farming and agricultural means to get food. These new elongated periods of warm temperatures mixed with drought is leading to longer seasons of extreme fire and worse, more severe wildfires (Global Warming and Climate Change). Farmland is being burned away, causing it not to be a viable place to grow crops anymore. The farmers are losing business and money because they can no longer perform their job and produce the products they have been selling. Consumers too are being affected by this, because the decrease in production of fresh farm crops means that demand will soon pass by the amount of supply. This will lead to an increase in the price of these fresh fruits and vegetables that are usually readily available at a reasonable price for purchase (GlobalChange).

Along with not providing farmland with the moisture it requires to grow product, the drought resulting from climate change also greatly negatively affects regions such as the western United States. In the West, along with Alaska, communities in these areas rely on snowfall as their main source of fresh, clean, drinking water. Along with the average temperature increasing annually, drought is causing these usually very prevalent snow conditions to lessen. This is not good for these communities that rely on this normal precipitation, because the snowpack stores water in reserves for later use in these snowy parts of the world. They now have to start to change the way they have been obtaining this necessary substance and start to import what had been a naturally occurring resource that they could rely on (“Climate Change Impacts”).

Like the extreme forest fires, climate change is giving way to more severe natural disasters, like new storm surges. They are hitting coastal communities harder than ever before and increasing the risk of erosion and flooding in these towns. Homes and businesses are being destroyed, leaving the economy distraught. Also, the temperature rise and extreme weather conditions are destroying many forms of infrastructure. Roads, rail lines, airports, port facilities, energy infrastructure, and military bases are all being ripped apart in these coastal communities, leaving the members of these communities without means of transportation, a supply of basic necessities, and our military their location to train to protect our country (GlobalChange).

If the condition of our deteriorating environment continues to breakdown, our near future generations will begin to develop some serious health complications. It is expected that over time, climate change will affect the quality of the air we breathe. It has been shown that the overabundance of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere will lead to the pollution of the air, with substances such as fine particles and dust. Susceptible audiences such as the elderly and children will mainly be affected by this effect of climate change and will develop a variety of reactions to these particles in the air. Affected individuals will suffer from chest pains, coughing, throat irritation, and congestion. They will also have reduced lung function and be the victim of inflamed lungs (Patz). Along with the serious breathing problems, climate change will also affect the time intervals of allergy season. Those who suffer from allergenic symptoms will not be happy if we don’t clean up our environment. Due to climate change increasing carbon dioxide concentration and the average temperatures, it will make allergy season more prevalent, and a more permanent, longer time zone (“Asthma, Respiratory Allergies…”)

A big mistake we make is thinking that one person or one group of people can even begin the process of slowing the rate of the deterioration of our environment. We need to get into the mindset that every single person living on Earth needs to play their small part in helping out. It’s not much to ask or not much to change in your daily life at all. If we all start making small changes, it will become the new normal in no time.

One small change society can implement into their daily lives is reducing and reducing as much as we possibly can. New products are made in factories that release carbon dioxide when manufacturing goods. We can support the movement to cut back on the production of this greenhouse gas by simply fixing broken appliances, or going thrifting to refurbish old clothes into new, in-style clothes. Another thing we can do as a society is save on our personal driving miles. We can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air by creating a carpool system among ourselves and coworkers, or choose to walk or bike to places that are relatively close to our homes (Shaw).

Surprisingly, eating your vegetables not only benefits your body and mind, but also is taking a positive impact on the atmosphere. Farm animals, such as cows, account for a good percentage of the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere because of the type of gas they naturally emmitt. By switching to a greener diet just once more per week than you would normally, this could drastically reduce the amount of livestock needed to be kept, ultimately paving the way for a healthier, cleaner environment (Shaw).

The last small change we need to look at making as average people looking to collectively reduce climate change, is switching to paper or reusable plastic bags when we go to the store, instead of using the cheap, flimsy plastic ones that end up in the trash when we put the groceries away. Depending on the environment, it could take up to one thousand years for one of those plastic bags to break down! Along with this statistic, recycling them ends up costing more than the bag itself, so they end up in a landfill site. The degradation of the bags is terrible for the environment, but so is the production process. To make these plastic bags that are heavily used throughout businesses around the world, it requires a great deal of oil and natural gas. By switching to reusable, we are saving non-renewable resources and saving the atmosphere from collecting even more greenhouse gases than it already has within it (Rinkesh).

Although climate change and global warming have an inherently negative connotation, some effects from the warming of the atmosphere could actually be looked at as beneficial to some. While we see the melting of the Arctic’s polar ice caps as a cause of flooding and building destruction, others may see iceless oceans as a new opportunity for faster, more efficient shipping routes across the world (Could Climate Change…). Another benefit from this warmer weather could be a decreased mortality rate from factors such as freezing to death, or getting stuck and drowning under icy tops of lakes and ponds. Although this could happen, we also have to take into account the new quantity of deaths that could occur from heatstroke, resulting from our bodies not being able to handle these new high temperatures (Are There Positive…). Even though there seems to be some good that could possibly come from climate change and global warming, in the end, there always seems to be a stronger negative effect that cancels out the little good we find.

Climate change isn’t something that we have a direct status on. We don’t have its playbook, and it is simply running on its own time frame, doing what it wants, when it wants to. It is vital that we start to take action now and try to slow down global warming, because we are already starting to see the effects of it in our own hometowns.

The Jersey Shore is a huge tourist destination. People come from all over the world to enjoy our beaches, but what happens when they’re gone? What is going to happen economically if New Jersey isn’t able to bring in that summer income? It would be detrimental to our state and that is why we need to take the small steps now and play our part to start saving the planet.

It’s scary to already be able to see some changes happening right in front of us. Temperatures in New Jersey are reported to be rising faster than the the national average. It has gotten to the point where we are starting to see a pattern, in the fact that New Jersey’s top ten warmest years since 1895 have all been fairly recent, all coming after 1990. Warmer weathers are causing more rainy days on the Jersey shore, bringing in more insects, like mosquitoes. In 2018, sixty-one people were diagnosed with West Nile Virus, with three deaths from this disease. This was a record number of cases for New Jersey, with the breeding ground being the warming of the state (Ford).

The biggest threat to New Jersey from climate change though, is sea-level rise. It contains 126 miles of shoreline, all of which is dangerously prone to flooding and land erosion. Rutgers scientists have projected that by 2100, less than a century from now, we will see up to a three and a half foot increase in sea level (Ford). If this trend continues, who knows what this will mean for generations to come after us. Will they get to enjoy the life we had growing up at the Jersey Shore, or will there be no Jersey Shore left? If we don’t start now, our homeland may as well be underwater by the time our grandchildren are ready to learn to surf or frolic in the salty waves. Our actions today will affect the future inhabitants of our land and we need to make sure they get to experience the same world we were lucky enough to live in.

Works Cited

“Are There Positive Benefits from Global Warming?: NOAA Climate.gov.” Are There Positive Benefits from Global Warming? | NOAA Climate.gov, 29 Oct. 2020, www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/are-there-positive-benefits-global-warming.

“Asthma, Respiratory Allergies and Airway Diseases — Climate and Human Health.” National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.niehs.nih.gov/research/programs/geh/climatechange/health_impacts/asthma/index.cfm.

“Climate Change Impacts.” Climate Change Impacts | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/climate/climate-change-impacts.

“Could Climate Change Be a Good Thing?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 11 May 2011, www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/may/11/climate-change-good-thing-benefits.

Ford, Scott Fallon and Andrew. “The Effects of Climate Change in New Jersey Are Already Here. They’re Everywhere.” North Jersey Media Group, NorthJersey, 24 Aug. 2019, www.northjersey.com/story/news/environment/2019/08/23/new-jersey-already-seeing-effects-climate-change/2069961001/.

“Global Warming and Climate Change.” Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2020. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/PC3010999211/OVIC?u=bayv26582&sid=OVIC&xid=802e038b. Accessed 22 Nov. 2020.

GlobalChange.gov, www.globalchange.gov/climate-change/impacts-society.

“Is It Too Late to Prevent Climate Change? — Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet.” NASA, NASA, climate.nasa.gov/faq/16/is-it-too-late-to-prevent-climate-change/.

Patz, Jonathan A, et al. “Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities for Global Health.” JAMA, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 15 Oct. 2014, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6108836/.

Rinkesh. “40 Breathtaking Reasons to Switch to Reusable Bags.” Conserve Energy Future, 25 Oct. 2020, www.conserve-energy-future.com/30-breathtaking-reasons-to-switch-to-reusable-bags.php.

Shaw, Allyson. “13 Ways to Save the Earth from Climate Change.” National Geographic Kids, 20 Feb. 2020, kids.nationalgeographic.com/explore/nature/save-the-earth-hub/13-ways-to-save-the-earth-from-climate-change/.

“The Causes of Climate Change.” NASA, NASA, 10 Nov. 2020, climate.nasa.gov/causes/.