The Damage We Have Done
THE DAMAGE WE HAVE DONE
By: Sara Io
The world has changed into one where people need to be clean, where hygiene is one of the most important parts of our daily life. Hygiene had always been important but now, it is more than ever. We are cautious of what we touch, where we sit, who has sat or touched what we are about to touch. Alcohol spray, wipes, tissue, sanitizer have all become common in the year of 2020. Tissues, and wipes are all disposable. And even the lunches we eat at school are all disposable. The plastic forks, spoons, lunch boxes, are all thrown away. But the world is changing. Where hygiene may be more important than global warming, would you rather eat out of something someone has already ate out of? We don’t know who ate out of the plate or bowl, who used the fork or spoon and put it in their mouth. But, if we dispose everything, we could destroy the world.
In an article written by Bill Gates, he states that it is human nature for a human to worry about things in the present time and not in the future. However, the headline for his article is “Covid-19 is awful. Climate Change could be worse.” The global crisis that is happening now could also have less damage than something that has been slowly building up in these past 200 years.
GREENHOUSE GASES AND CLIMATE CHANGE DEATHS
Humans have had more than 200 years to try and stop global warming from heating up the Earth, and eventually destroying it. But, from those 200 years, we have made it worse. Plastic, cities, waste, have all made the climate change problem worse. Because that plastic trashes the oceans, more factories are being build, the temperature and greenhouse emissions have been trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere which causes the greenhouse effect. This heats up the Earth.
However, in these past years’ solutions have been made, such as green energy, solar power, recycling and so much more. But climate change has also been known for what it might do to planet Earth. in the current world, it is not widely reported on the news or on social media that many people have died from climate change, one of the most common things is air pollution. Unlike the amount of people who have died from Covid-19, the fatality rates that air pollution brings isn’t widely known. Respiratory illnesses, asthma, air pollution, and the amount of co2 in the world has caused almost 15000 deaths each year. And scientists say that that number could go to 250,000 by 2050.
How does the pandemic change or impact climate change?
Although that trash and water usage may have gone up, pollution and the greenhouse gas emissions have actually gone down. With the self-quarantine and stay home lockdown, fewer people have been using cars, and less people have been going outside. This has also made the year of 2020 have a major decrease in the amount of emissions in the entire 20th century from any global crisis. India had shared photos of being able to see the Himalayas after years because of pollution. And because of the lockdown, the traveling has stopped, which means less tourists and less aviation around the world. Aviation has taken up 2% of the world’s greenhouse has emissions, without traveling, there is now 10 million metric tons less of carbon dioxide just from aviation.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
The amount of effects that the pandemic has had on the global warming and climate change crisis is unknown. It could animals being affected, people, or some unknown factor. Even though the pandemic has possibly slowed some things down, and also increased some rates on climate change, there are stills some questions. Even though the pollution rate has still gone down, why is the temperature still so high? And why did this cause wildfires and hurricanes and more? The global warming and the pandemic situation have yet to be unfolded and still has many unknowns. But we know that the pandemic has impacted more than us humans, and we should find a way to balance out how to be clean, how to take care of ourselves, but also know that the Earth and the natural resources on this planet is also being impacted. The world is changing by the second, for humans and for the Earth. Us, students at AISG, can take small actions to save the world, we can help the pandemic and the environment. To help the pandemic, we can wear masks, social distance, and take the Covid-19 tests. And at school, we can help the environment during lunch time. Sodexo can allow you to take your own boxes from home to eat lunch with. If you do this for an amount of days, you can get free things at the café! This can save the plastic, and the paper boxes we use every day at lunch. And, if you have time, you can even bring your own home lunch! Imagine if everyone at AISG recycled plastic just during school hours, it would already help the world a lot more. Together we can save the Earth from these both crises.
