By Ben Abrams, Seventh Grade, Krieger Schechter Day School of Chizuk Amuno Congregation
Climate change is often overlooked by humans. People naively think that the Earth is heating up by itself and it will somehow stop in a couple of years. But climate change is real, and it will not miraculously stop.
Sea levels are rising and warming, and because of the hotter water there have been many hurricanes with increased severity. Many people’s lives have been ruined by these powerful acts of Mother Nature, and it will take a real effort on our part to reverse the damage and protect our planet.
According to Amy Casper, a seventh grade science teacher at McDonogh School in Owings Mills, “Eight billion years ago, our climate was even warmer than it is today. There has been a general trend of getting colder through eight billion years. But if you look at recent human history, we’re getting hotter really fast.”
The climate is naturally warming up, but humans are speeding up the process.
Recently, hurricanes have become more common and harsh. “As the oceans get warmer, the warmer water fuels the hurricanes,” Casper explains. “The climate is getting warmer and is heating up the sea.” Just the extra couple of degrees have created these powerful hurricanes, which have caused tremendous damage and heartache.
Throughout history we have had big storms but never this often. According to Miriam Glazer, science department head at the Krieger Schechter Day School of Chizuk Amuno Congregation, “It used to be that you’d get one storm every hundred years or so, and now we’re seeing them once every 10 years. I think that’s just going to get more frequent.” These storms are not only more common but they are more severe, too.
Additionally, hurricane’ paths have changed. “I also think as the water is warmer, more northern areas are going to see the effects of hurricanes, maybe even Baltimore. And we recently had Hurricane Larry hit Greenland, which does not usually happen,” Casper says. Hurricanes are traveling more northward and proving disastrous for cities that are not used to seeing such enormous storms.
However, there is hope. According to Glazer, “The only way we’re going to slow these hurricanes down is by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.” We might be able to fix this for future generations.
We have to make a way to use clean energy. “There are 30 states in the U.S that have requirements for certain amounts of renewable energy in their states. And that’s a real way that America can make a difference, if we can use energy like hydro power,” says Casper. If we can use more hydro power, solar energy, and wind turbines, we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and bring hurricane levels down.
Humans have impacted our environment and society, and we all need to make changes to stop these hurricanes and cool our climate down.
Ben Abrams is a seventh grade student at the Krieger Schechter Day School of Chizuk Amuno Congregation.
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