Srichan is a 7th grader from Virginia. His journalism piece intertwines staggering data with a passionate call to action.
Climate change refers to the long-term shifts in temperature and weather affecting my community and others daily. The World Health Organization even states that “3.6 billion people already live in areas highly susceptible to climate change. Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year."
Climate change is becoming a greater and greater threat to our environment and safety. We have to speak up about this now as the United Nations has done research on multiple scales and comes to the conclusion that “just over a decade is all that remains to stop irreversible damage from climate change." As a community, we need to stand up against this major threat that is slowly eradicating our planet.
To end climate change, we must put an end to global warming. This feat can’t just happen overnight, though one way we could get there is by reducing human emissions of heat-trapping gas and soot, formally known as “black carbon." Burning fossil fuels and cutting forests are the two biggest contributors to human emissions. One way to fix the issue of fossil fuels is by switching to renewable energy. Some types of renewable energy include solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, and hydropower energy.
Many companies, such as Sephora, are switching to more renewable sources of energy. CEO Magazine even covers “Sephora achieves 100 percent renewable energy across its US-based stores, corporate offices, and distribution centers. In 2018, Sephora secured 23.7 million kilowatt hours of clean energy, which is equivalent to providing power for one household for over 2,300 years." Sephora is a massive company with more than 500 stores and five distribution centers. Non-renewable energy alternatives cause an abundance of contamination in water and soil. Renewable energy protects our air, making it safer to breathe, and, as a result, lowers health care bills as people become healthier. However, one key issue with many renewables is that they cost large amounts of money. The solution is solar power, as it is much cheaper than other renewables. Not only this, but the DOE even announced a goal to cut solar power down by more than half of its cost by 2030. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm says that “in many parts of the country, solar is already cheaper than coal and other fossil fuels, and with more innovation, we can cut the cost again by more than half within the decade." Climate change harms our environment and our own lives; we must make the change for the sake of our planet.
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