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MAY 2007

BANK STREET On The Issues
The Impact of Global Warming

By Astley Robinson

The scientific and environmental communities are drawing attention to the way our society is negatively impacting our world.  There is a disastrous trend that will cause cataclysmic alteration to the way living beings function on Earth —a trend known commonly as global warming.

The average American may feel that a two-degree increase in the overall climate is minuscule, yet it is sending off alarms to environmental scientists. The approach of detrimental change may be irreversible. If not addressed in this century, global warming will endanger the existence of life, and may transport the Earth back to its lifeless, carbon-filled environment millions of years ago. Most people believe that global warming’s initial effects will occur long after this generation’s demise.  Many people also dismiss the urgency for change because it seems impossible that a little gas emission from their family SUV could influence or bring about killer hurricanes and mass flooding.

 Scientifically, the emission of these greenhouse gases is the cause for chemical changes in our atmosphere.  However, I also believe that the human diseases of apathy, ignorance, complacency, and fear, make people ignore the signs of the Earth’s imminent danger and support companies that poison our environment.

Common gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon monoxide from environmental stranglers -- automobiles, aircrafts, power plants, aerosol cans and residential cleaning products -- affect the environment. Excessive deforestation has allowed these carbon dioxide levels to rise. According to the US Emissions Inventory of 2004, methane levels climbed 145% over the past century, and are twice as harmful as carbon dioxide. The use of cars, fertilizers, and burning of organic materials increases nitrous oxide levels – a major contributor to global warming.

The natural green house effect makes the Earth warm and habitable. But, advanced green house effect traps high levels of the infrared radiation in the earth’s atmosphere, causing the Earth to absorb it.

We are misusing and wasting resources provided by Mother Nature in exchange for ease, comfort, and superiority. The inability to recognize the problem ultimately results in general indifference, unwillingness to compromise the ease of technology, and fear of changing society. People do not understand how they are compromising the lives of future generations; nor do they understand the sheer magnitude of the catastrophic effects that have come to light since January, 2007.

Elected officials and leaders are prioritizing ‘going green’ but people must acknowledge that their daily decisions have led the Earth down this path. If we chose to ignore the signs and revel in our self-centeredness, we will be faced with a limited choice -- survival or extinction.#

Jamaican-born Astley Robinson, 17, took part in the Canadian-based Students on Ice program that sent three Bank Street students to Antarctica in December, 2006. She is the youngest of five and lives in the Bronx. A top student in her class, she was accepted into Cornell University’s pre-med program starting this summer. She is a participant in Bank Street Liberty LEADS program.

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