Before I leave my room, I sometimes forget to turn the lights off. When I am in the shower, I can shower for at least half an hour. And when I drive my car, I never think about the gas consumption.
These ignorant actions on my part destroy the world and culminate in two feared words: Global warming.
Global warming, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, is “the sustained increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere.” Human actions are causing global warming: our dependence on fossil fuels, lack of energy conservation, and sometimes just plain apathy are having detrimental effects on the environment.
The warming of the earth is a serious issue that needs to be dealt with now. It could already be too late; changes may have taken place that cannot be reversed.
An increase in the overall temperature of the Earth is causing water levels to rise. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that there will be more extremes in weather if global warming persists. It projects that Chicago will see a 25 percent increase in the frequency of heat waves, and there will be a large increase in the heat waves in Los Angeles.
This increase means that living conditions will be harder: extreme temperatures are difficult for people who are elderly, poor or inactive.
The IPCC also predicts that increased temperatures will cause wilder storms with greater intensity, like the 2006 tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, which cost millions of lives.
After recognizing the enormity of the effects of global warming, it seems las though one person can’t make a difference, since society is causing warming, not just one person.
Truthfully, though, one person can make a difference. One person can affect the warming of the earth. One person can help change the world.
If you decide to turn the lights off in your room, you will prevent global warming.
If you ride a bike instead of drive a car, you will diminish warming. You can also keep the faucet from running unnecessarily, unplug electronics, shut down laptops, take the stairs, reuse water bottles, become more knowledgeable, print double sided, join the Environmental Task Force or the Just Earth Environmental groups on campus-and the laundry list goes on.
As individuals, we are powerful. We can use the recycling bins in the residence halls and throughout campus. We can use public transportation, like the Billiken shuttle, MetroLink, the bus and our feet. We can leave the curtains open in our rooms for natural lighting. Simple changes in our daily lives will make an enormous impact on the Earth.
The people who will inherit the Earth after our generation deserve a planet that is just as good if not better than the earth we inherited. We have an obligation to ourselves to stop global warming. We have an obligation to the future.
We need to become more cognizant of our actions; global warming is a debt that future generations will have to pay. Let’s cease building this increasing debt. Let’s be a little selfless today.
Samiksha Tarun is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences.
