Global Warming

      According to the New York Times, "Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values, and motivation to make a difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes." Another source, The Youth Gov, states, "Civic engagement involves working to make a diff in the civic life of one's community and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values, and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes." In my terms, civic engagement means the community develops new skills and improves lives within their community. People work together to be better than yesterday, even if it is not politically wise. The city has goals to achieve together, thus connecting people more. A major social issue within my community is global warming. Not only it affects members of my community, but everyone in the world. A change is needed, and we have to act fast as we see the effects of this everywhere.

       For this project, I decided to focus my intentions on global warming. Global warming is the unusually rapid increase in Earth's average surface temperature over the past century, primarily due to the greenhouse gases released as people burn fossil fuels. This topic is highly significant as almost everyone is aware of global warming, yet no changes/improvements have been made to stop this from extending. According to NRDC, Macmillan states that "global warming occurs when the carbon dioxide and other air pollutants and greenhouse gases collect in the atmosphere and absorb sunlight and solar radiation that have bounced off the Earth's surface. Usually, this radiation would escape into space, but these pollutants, which can last for years to centuries in the atmosphere, trap the heat and cause the planet to get hotter, known as the greenhouse effect. With fires, glaciers melting faster than ever, and rising sea levels, it is nearly impossible not to think about the future outcome of the planet if we do not plan to change our lifestyles. According to National Geographic, Nunez states that "It has become clear that humans have caused most of the past century's warming by releasing heat-trapping gases as we power our modern lives. We heavily relied on gas for lights, gas, etc, and are finally seeing the causes within our own eyes throughout time. Animal habitats are suffering at a high pace, with glaciers melting faster than ever and forest fires caused by high temperatures. Yet, we are hardly doing anything to make a change. For example, California has had taken massive hits due to global warming this year alone, such as the temperature at an all-time high, wildfires lasting longer than ever, and wildfires caused by the heatwave.

  This social issue heavily affects me as global warming can be so disruptive in a few years if there are no changes. With more wildfires occurring and glaciers melting very quickly, animal life suffers tremendously. We are seeing the effects of this within our own eyes currently. Although everyone is aware and is sharing all the info throughout social media, little to nothing has been done to fix this. Since we are the future, we need to stand up for this and demand a change instead of waiting for a chance to occur. There is no exception, as we are also the main problem behind all of this. However, it is not too late for a change. For myself, I started to take public transportation, try not to waste food, and reduced water wastes. Small things matter. I chose this as my topic because this topic is the most important thing. We only have one Earth, and we are killing it slowly. We are part of the problem and also be the solution.