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Destyne Guy-Williams
Ms. Glaum
Focus Inquiry
5 December 2014
It’s Our Environment: Care for It
Imagine for a second, inhaling sulfur and nitrogen oxide instead of pure air, wearing a
UV protection jacket just to check the mail, or even being forced to move away from home to the
center United States due to the dangerous rise of sea levels. These images will be a reality for our
children and future generations due to our unaltered bad habits. It would only be harsh to a force
punitive environment on our acquitted generations to come. Wouldn’t you be more content if
they could enjoy life even like we are enjoying college life opposed to having to conform to
unlivable conditions?
If we don’t change our ways, the world as we know it will not be the glorious life we live
in now but instead a miserable place. First the exposure to more chemicals in the air will make it
almost impossible to breath without some sort of mask that would provide filtration. Secondly
the depletion of the ozone would boost the exposure of harmful UV rays. Lastly, Global
warming would enhance the temperature of the earth thus leading to the melting of polar ice caps
resulting in a significant rise in water above sea level. With little progressions and adjustments in
our lives we can reserve our earth.
As we are inhaling now, some of us already have respiratory conditions such as asthma
and bronchitis. People, who possess these conditions, will not even stand a chance in surviving
the future air to come, if life alterations are not made. United States Environmental Protection
agency (EPA) states that studies have proven human activities increased the emission of
greenhouse gases by 35% and carbon dioxide by 42%. Electricity generation, transportation, and
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other uses of fossil fuel release chemical that pollute the air. As EPA suggested the numbers are
only expected to increase as a result of more technological advances, leading to harmful
contaminated air.
As a female, I can relate to having a one-of-kind hairspray that gives your hair body and
movement but is worth your skin diminishing? “The ultraviolet radiation at a certain aptitudes
breaks down CFCs, freeing the chlorine. Under the proper conditions, this chlorine has the
potential to destroy large amounts of ozone,” according to observations of Charles Welch.
According to Union of Concerned Scientist, CFC gases, through several chemical reactions,
cause the ozone molecules to break down, reducing ozone's ultraviolet (UV) radiation-absorbing
capacity. Thus allowing harm UV rays to reach and damage our skin. Though a lot people like
tans, these are skin cancer producing rays. CFC gases are commonly found in aerosols, therefore
we need to sacrifice all uses of aerosol and find an alternate solution to task usually fulfilled by
the use of CFC gases.
Did you know, confirmed by NASA, Global sea level rose about 6.7 inches in the last
century? The rate in the last decade, however, is nearly double that of the last century. The
reason being is, as National Geographic points out, over the past century burning fossil fuels and
other released fossil fuel and other released emissions have caused the earth’s surface
temperature to rise, and ocean absorbs 80% of the additional heat. As water heats up it expands
cause it to melt polar icecaps and 216ft rise of water above sea level. The entire east coast as well
as the west coast will be covered completely of water. I am sure you would not want to migrate
from a home by reason of something that could have been prevented. Hence we should slow
down the rate emission, by walking, carpooling, or riding public transportation instead of
individually driving cars and even limit the usage of electricity.
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How many times do you walk past a recycling bin just to throw something away? As
VCU students, we witness the advertisement of “going green” a lot; we also ignore “going
green” a lot, thanks to the complexity of trashcans or simple ways to joining the “movement”.
Well you don’t have to be part of the movement but you should care for the environment enough
to choose the recycling bin over the trash can. You should take interest in the wellbeing of the
future, in knowing the results of our now mistakes. I am challenging you to reduce, limit your
use of electricity, water and driving; reuse, instead of using paper plates or cup use reusable
plastic plates and bottles; recycle, choose the recycling bin next time. As you challenge yourself
challenge your friends, your families and even your communities. You may be thinking, what
impact do you as one person have on the earth? Well, if everyone had the same thought image
how many millions of bad habits would continue to happen. Now think what those millions of
people chose good habits instead; this world would be on the road to recovery. However this is
not the case, which is why it all starts with you. Encourage others to make the simple alterations,
in order to make a huge change. Dare yourself and others to care about your environment.
In conclusion, we as humans have the greatest impact on the world in many different
ways; therefore we should work the hardest to preserve it. In our daily life’s we go on generating
electricity, emitting harmful chemicals, and relying on transportation failing to realize the
consequences these habits. We should especially for our future want to breath air with no
problem. We shouldn’t have to wear specialized jacket just to protect ourselves from the sun. We
should not have to migrate from our homes to the center of the continent. In order for us to
reverse the damage already done and prevent the misery to come we as VCU students need to
begin to implementing small life changing habits. We need to form habits such as reducing,
reusing, and recycling. And to take it a bit further we should encourage our friends, families,
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classmates, and communities to do the same. As a final point, it starts with us, the adults of the
future, to make changes for better living.