As part of the Climate Change Solutions: Inspiration from Leaders in Climate Science and Action presentation at Fort Lewis College on Oct. 30, students at Durango area high schools were invited to write on the topic. Students at the FLC Environmental Center picked these winning essays.I believe the most inspiring climate change solution is not an equation to reduce carbon emissions or a solar panel that is installed around the world. The most inspiring climate change solution is sparking something in others to do work that helps in the battle against this pressing issue.
Climate change is an exponential issue, meaning that there isn’t very much time to start combatting some of the emissions, and with little time left, we all certainly have to come together as one and put all minds and ingenuity together to create thousands of solutions to implement. With oceans acidifying, coral reefs calcifying, and air quality reaching all-time lows, now is the time to make a change.
In eighth grade, I became aware of this pressing issue through Instagram, and began following a page of a new documentary called Racing Extinction. This documentary explored the idea of inspiring people, and one quote has stuck with me since: “Better to light one candle than curse the darkness.”
We as the human race need to be proactive in the race for a healthy tomorrow. At this moment in time, our planet is on a fast track towards a climate we can not heal and while efforts are great now, people need to get involved. The best and most inspiring solution to climate change is not a specific invention, but the spark within the human race to work towards the greater good.
Greta Cahill is a junior at Animas High School.
In our modern-day society, natural lands, specifically large forests, are taken for granted, but each year nearly 18 million acres of forest are permanently destroyed in order to make room for new settlements and plantations.
It is no secret that deforestation of this magnitude has severe impacts on our global climate, thus, it should come as no surprise that the reverse of this process, afforestation, could have immense benefits in regard to reversing this damage.
This method of biosequestration has already commenced – according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 287 million hectares of land have already begun re-cultivation. However, the total land that has been allocated for afforestation is 437 million hectares, meaning our efforts can be increased by over 150 percent. In an optimum situation, the primary production resulting from these efforts would remove 41.6 gigatons of carbon from the atmosphere by 2050.
The atmosphere currently contains approximately 870 gigatons of carbon, whereas in 2013 there was 852 gigatons. By way of afforestation, atmospheric carbon content could be reduced by 4.8 percent, returning CO2 levels to 390 parts per million, 10 ppm less than what was measured in 2013.
Of course, this proposed solution does not account for the potentially detrimental albedo effects in some climate zones, specifically boreal and temperate forests, however the benefits would most certainly outweigh this limitation.
In the war against global warming, there is no one correct or perfect solution, therefore it is imperative that other mitigation strategies are utilized in conjunction with necessary afforestation efforts.
Luke Nicholson is a senior at Durango High School.
Climate change is continually occurring, for the earth is warming and something must be done to reduce the warming caused by humans. Climate change is affected by what humans do to get energy, whether using renewable or nonrenewable resources.
Of all the climate change solutions, wind turbines are by far the most inspiring. Wind turbines use wind naturally created on Earth to generate electricity. Wind is a renewable source, and can create power without the use of fossil fuels or emitting pollution.
Other options emit greenhouse gases or produce radioactive or toxic waste, and using wind does not. The fact that humans can produce electricity without reducing limited fossil fuels and without producing any pollution is just amazing.
Wind turbines are also versatile, being able to produce electricity on land, on the ocean, and as micro wind. This allows wind turbines to be used in various locations to produce even more clean energy. Not only this, but wind turbines leave a small footprint, taking up very little space. This allows other activities to be done on the land while turbines are in use. Wind turbines do not take long to assemble either, so clean energy is made in a year or less.
Wind turbines are becoming more common, now competing with coal-generated electricity. An 18 percent increase of wind turbines on land can eliminate 84.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide. This is a massive decrease, which I find inspiring.
So much pollution can be reduced by this one solution.
Hannah Whitmer is a senior at Bayfield High School.
