Earth Day: Causes & Solutions To Global Warming

It’s a year since April 22nd, and you know what that means: Another Earth Day celebration! But it’s not just about celebration for our Earth. There are things that we should all ponder.

Before getting to that, you should first know the basic history of Earth Day (if you haven’t already known). First held on today in 1970, there was virtually no environmental movement prior. So that’s a surprise. Before this movement, factories kept emitting into the air, recycling was almost non-existent, fossil fuels get burnt, and gas vehicles were everywhere. Much of that remains, with only a few electric cars. But because much remains, especially the burning of fossil fuels, the climate isn’t that happy.

Burning these fuels, car and factory emissions, and more result in harmful gases and chemicals like CO2 getting into the atmosphere. “What’s the big idea?” OK, we’re getting to that, Donald Duck. Hey, when did you even get into this conversation? “I was listening in.” Anyway, at first, these emissions have no immediate effect. However, gradually, the climate worldwide gets hotter. In the 20th century, Earth’s average temperature increased by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit. It sounds like a small amount, but it’s an unusual event in our planet’s recent history. Earth’s climate record, preserved in ice cores, coral reefs, and tree rings, shows that the global average temperature is stable over long periods. And small temperature changes correspond to enormous environmental changes. An example is that at the end of the last ice age, when the Northeastern U.S. was covered by more than 3,000 feet, or about 914 meters, of ice, the average temperature was only 5 to 9 degrees cooler than today.

“Why is that?” That’s because the CO2 gets trapped in the atmosphere, with air coming in but small amounts escaping out. And “old” air buzzes in the atmosphere, making it hotter altogether. “But I still don’t know what’s the big idea about all this.” The “big idea” is that, when this global warming happens, with things getting hotter, the ice in many places starts to melt, Donald. And with no ice to live on, many animals like polar bears, seals, and such, have nowhere to go but the water. Not only animals, but the melting of ice can affect us, too. For your ducky-kind, Donald, it may not be an enormous problem since you could swim and do stuff like that. However, to us, humans, and other species, the threat of flooding, storms, rising sea levels, and warming waters can result in disaster, with many losing their homes. Even though you swim in water often, well, not in your Disney cartoon, they also threaten you in many ways, with your “cottage” maybe being washed away, so be careful. “And you be careful, too.” Of course.

But it would be much better if these disasters didn’t even happen. An efficient solution to solve an emitter of CO2, the traditional gas vehicle, is to switch to electric ones, which are environmentally friendly, with pretty much no emissions. “That’s a good solution, I think. And what about those factories that you talked about?” A solution to that is to destroy the harmful elements before they enter the environment using abatement mechanisms. But an even easier way is actually to manufacture using greener operations.

And the last one, which is also the biggest problem, is the burning of fossil fuels to make electricity. This problem is, in truth, easily solvable too. Change to solar, hydro, wind, or another environmentally-friendly energy source, depending on the place in question. Places like deserts are fit for solar since they have lots of sunlight. And big dams are giant energy generators, using the waters’ force flowing down from the higher end to turn the generators. “Frankly, I already knew the thing about the dams.” And I know that you already knew that, Donald, just that I was explaining for our other friends out there listening to our conversation. Anyway, haven’t you ever seen a machine like a farmer’s windmill turning in the wind, friends? That works like a windmill. However, instead of grinding grains and other foods, it’s another one of the giant, clean generators. “I only knew about the hydro ones, but there are so many others out there! They work great, though why don’t the governments change to these cleaner plans?”

One reason is that converting to these electric cars and green plans is hard since so many people use gas vehicles, rely on fossil fuels, and many companies own factories emitting daily. It’ll be kind of crazy to take away these resources everyone’s using, and say “no, it’s time to use these,” and give out a bunch of clean energy sources. But we can persuade people and factories, after letting them realize how big this environmental problem is. “What about me? How can I help?” You are in, more or less, a powerless position to stop these things from happening, Donald Duck, though you could help warn your viewers and fans about the threat. “I’d be happy to do so.”

This whole conversation is already warning you, viewer, how bad of a situation this is. And now that you know, you can spread the idea to your friends. “It’s time to warn people about the threat of climate change. It’s time to let people know the solution to climate change. It’s time to face the threat of climate change. Together.” Wow, Donald, I never knew that you could be so, well, persuasive. “I just found out about that too.”

So, friends, that’s the end of this production from the New News Newsminute, which, surprisingly, turned into a conversation with Donald Duck here. Thanks for listening in, and should we say this together? “Yeah.” Bye! “See you guys, bye!”