Editor’s note: Caden Voss, author of this article, is a student in a gifted and talented students’ fifth-grade class at Park Elementary taught by Sarah Strouthopoulos. As the temperatures continue to rise and catastrophic events occur, will they be irreversible?
The world is warming, and from 2030 to 2052, the temperature is expected to rise 1.5 C. That might not seem like much, but it is enough to put temperatures above freezing in polar areas, which will melt polar ice caps and then raise the sea level.
Melting ice caps endangers humankind and our beloved wild places. As the Earth warms, it causes oceans to rise, which means more people will need to move away from coastal areas; it causes drought, which means wildfires burn hotter and there is less water for soil and food.
We need to stop this global problem that will soon destroy our planet.
Although not many people have heard of carbon removal, it is the key to slowing global warming. There are three simple and effective strategies that will reduce carbon in the atmosphere.
If people grow plants wherever they can, then the amount of carbon in the air will decrease due to photosynthesis. Photosynthesis naturally removes carbon dioxide, and trees are especially good at removing carbon. Growing plants on the window sill of an apartment, or having a garden in your yard, are great ways to take part in ending climate change.
Planting trees is fairly cheap and costs between $20 and $50 dollars per metric ton. According to BBC News, “Global deforestation has been a significant factor in driving up emissions of carbon, so researchers feel that planting new trees or restoring lost areas is a simple and cheap technology that could be expanding right now.”
According to the World Resource Institute, trees outside of forests could save over half a gigaton of carbon dioxide. Planting trees and other plants is a great way to reduce carbon in the atmosphere and slow climate change.
Keeping emissions down is one of the most effective ways to reduce putting carbon in the atmosphere.
Solar energy is an environmentally safer alternative that limits greenhouse gas emissions and diminishes the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Homes that install solar panels would have the same benefit as planting 150 trees a year or eliminating burning over 5,000 pounds of coal, according to Energysage.com. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide enter the atmosphere due to people driving their cars and burning coal to keep their houses warm.
When humans reduce carbon dioxide they help save the environment in numerous ways, including ending global warming.
Correct farming is another great option to remove carbon in the atmosphere.
There are many other benefits to stopping conventional farming practice. Correctly farming uses little to no pesticides and plows. Plows are bad for the environment, and “thanks to conventional farming practices, nearly half of the most productive soil has disappeared in the world in the last 150 years, threatening crop yields and contributing to nutrient pollution, dead zones and erosion,” according to The Guardian. Topsoil filters water and absorbs carbon. Every 1% increase in carbon into the soil, creates an additional 40,000 gallons of water. When land is farmed correctly, carbon is removed from the atmosphere and put back into the soil, which increases plant growth on our planet.
Carbon removal strategies are necessary to slow global warming. According to the Guardian, if we don’t start removing carbon, this global disaster will raise temperatures and ocean levels, especially around Florida, and wildfires could rampage all around the world.
People need to take action by supporting carbon removal and keeping all greenhouse gas emissions and carbon emissions down. It is very hard but possible to stop this worldwide catastrophe from happening if carbon removal strategies are acted upon.
