We need to change. Today alone [enter statistic here] has happened as a result of the ecological crisis we have caused, do you want these numbers to increase? Do you want to die from old age or global warming? All life known to man exists on this planet, we have overexploited the planet’s resources for decades, and despite the negative effects, we fail to act. This chaos will result in the mass extinction of all life on earth, and that isn’t an exaggeration. We need to change. Every single one of you can change. We can change by reducing our carbon emissions, preventing further ocean acidification, and saving the planet.
1 – ocean acidification and plastic pollution
The ocean absorbs substantial amounts of the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere by human activities (CoastAdapt, 2019) which results in a decrease in the ocean’s pH levels, this process is called ocean acidification. The acidity of the ocean has increased by 26% since 1850, at a rate of change roughly 10 times faster than any time in the last 55 million years (CoastAdapt, 2019). This affects ecosystems beneath the waves, as marine organisms will be more likely to die out as food sources such as algae will perish up to 80%, and marine life will lose a significant amount of their habitat. This results in seafood becoming inedible due to their malnutrition they suffer from a lack of food, and seafood such as oysters with money would lose $100,000,000,000 worth of oysters. This also affects marine tourism as the acidification causes coral bleaching, making the great barrier reef, which was once beautiful, a colorless empty wasteland. The state of the ocean doesn’t become any better with over 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes of plastic that ends up in our oceans, according to a 2015 study (Natural History Museum, 2019). There has been a 30% increase in ocean acidity due to the increased amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. We can all help to sustain our oceans, reducing each one of our carbon footprints.
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2 – carbon
Carbon is the main cause of this crisis, so it is our responsibility to stop carbon pollution. The leaders can do so much to aid humanity, yet they refuse, as doing so won’t profit them. They caused this ecological crisis; they don’t care because they don’t get to experience the consequences of their actions. They don’t care that the earth’s temperature is rising, causing ecological collapse, they gain money from it. They don’t care, about world suffering. They don’t care, so the younger generations must. This is the world we all must live in, we should all do what it takes to ensure the survival of our species and every other living thing on earth. If we fail to act, flooding, mass extinction, extreme weather, and natural disasters will become the norm and the overall future of our planet will seize. The global temperature is estimated at this current time to rise another 1.5° in the coming 50 years, which may not sound like a lot but will result in an irreversible chain reaction beyond human control. We still have everything in our own hands, but unless we recognize the overall failures of our current systems, we most probably don't stand a chance (Fauna & Flora International, 2019).
3 – what we can do
We all have the power to do something about the future of our planet, we can all fight for what’s right. Whether it be reducing your carbon footprint by only driving when necessary, saving power, taking shorter showers, or eating less meat, everything will add up if we all work together.
The current system in which we all live our lives needs to change, but we cannot have this change without personal change. All big movements in history have started from people like us, people who want change for the benefit of humanity. Everything needs to change, but we cannot change on our own, we need you. (1975 & Thunberg, 2019)
At the end of the day, if we don’t do something about the environment, no politics, no amount of money or structure building will be able to save us.
Bibliography
1975, T. & Thunberg, G., 2019. 1975. s.l.:https://genius.com/The-1975-the-1975-noacf-lyrics.
CoastAdapt, 2019. Ocean acidification and its effects. [Online]
Available at: https://coastadapt.com.au/ocean-acidification-and-its-effects [Accessed 21 October 2019].
Fauna & Flora International, 2019. Climate Change. [Online]
Available at: https://www.fauna-flora.org/conservation-challenges/climate-change?gclid=CjwKCAjwlovtBRBrEiwAG3XJ-4NdmwMN_QmMNYhTz_pLfr70MsDBWDrrOIe70a0kEl5y0pnYxUjuaRoCktEQAvD_BwE
Natural History Museum, 2019. Quick Question: How Much Plastic Is In The Ocean? [Online]
Available at: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/quick-questions/how-much-plastic-is-in-the-ocean.html
Plastic Oceans International, 2019. The Facts. [Online]
Available at: https://plasticoceans.org/the-facts/