Let's go to the future! Sorry, not the “techie” flying cars future, but the future where the sea levels are so high that Miami, Fla., will be underwater. The future where the thunderstorms will be much worse and less predictable. The future where the average temperature will be almost seven degrees hotter in both the winter and summer in Cape Girardeau. Although that does not seem like much, it is.

Of course, these are only predictions, but so far, these predictions have been quite accurate. Every year, California’s seasonal wildfires become more destructive because of the hotter climate.

In case these words are not making any sense to you, I am referring to climate change, science, something most people in our country have been ignoring for decades. The things I listed above sound very scary and are extremely likely to take place by 2050. I know 30 years from now sounds unbelievable, but there are certain things we can do to stop climate change from destroying our planet.

One action we can take as a country is to cut down on greenhouse gas producers like coal and fossil fuels. The emissions of these fuels contain carbon dioxide, which pollutes the air and causes the ozone layer to degrade. After enough of the ozone layer is eaten away, we will not have any protection from the dangerous rays of the sun.

Now, how do we cut back on these gases? We utilize an amazing solution called renewable energy. An example of this is wind energy from windmills and solar energy from the sun. Although we want to cut back on those gases, we must ask the government to enforce it, as it cannot be left in the hands of the average American citizen.  

However, there is something we can do at home. We can try our best to remove wasteful materials that come from these fossil fuel factories out of our everyday lives. For example, a toothbrush is an essential good. It is something we have to live with, but it is extremely wasteful. Toothbrushes make up approximately 25% of all waste, along with plastic bags and plastic straws. Numerous companies have begun making bamboo and biodegradable toothbrushes. There are even some companies that are considered no-waste companies, which means they produce all the necessities like body wash, shampoo, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste and hairbrushes in no-waste packaging. So, reusable, bamboo and biodegradable containers.

As you can see, it is vital to the health of our environment that we do our absolute best at having no waste or cutting down on waste. Something I have done to cut down on waste is to cut out cotton rounds to remove makeup; instead, I have bought a reusable makeup-removing cloth. This not only helps our environment, but it is also cost-efficient.

Climate change is an important issue Congress needs to put on the top of their list as a priority. Of course, other priorities exist like those relating to the economy and education, but if we do not get our climate under control, we will not have a world in which to worry about our priorities.

The future of our planet depends on us. What will you do to keep our planet alive?

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