Creating a Sustainable Earth

By: B. Sapoznik

 If you've read any news or pay attention to our constantly changing world, you probably know our planet is undergoing a catastrophic climate event, which might (and already has) dealt a great amount of damage to our planet’s ecosystem. This event heats up our whole world and causes ecosystems to change as nature responds to it. That is the infamous global warming, leading humans to destroy their own homes. But… is there a solution to this global problem? Or might humanity simply be doomed and causing our own death? 
 
Well, it is a bit more complicated than that. Global warming is a process which has been going on for centuries now and is caused by a very simple reason. Since times of the industrial revolution, we have used fossil fuels as a source of energy for our large manufacturing rates. In the time of the revolution, people thought fossil fuels were alright, because they gave tons of energy to provide for our needs. Little did they know that these same fuels were polluting our environment and would only worsen in future generations. Through the centuries, scientists have come to an explanation on why fossil fuels heat up our world. This is because fossil fuels release greenhouse gases (such as CO² and Methane), which trap heat it receives (mostly from the sun) into itself. It is like adding a blanket to a bed to keep it warmer, where our Earth is the bed. 
 
But the question is: if we relied so much on fossil fuels for their energy, how do we change sources into a better one with the same amount of energy given? The answer is: sustainable sources. Sustainable sources of energy are sources that we take from nature that is given naturally, and we do not actually need to burn it (or expel some chemical) in order to gain this energy. A modern example is wind power. Through wind turbines, we can safely harness the power of the wind to use as our fuel. Also, solar power can be used. Sometimes, we might take for granted that we have a very nearby star that expels tons of energy every second into our planet, the Sun. Through solar power, we can use solar radiation to generate power and create a sustainable environment. Some other examples are hydropower, biomass, geothermal power, etc. 
 
There is only one problem with these sustainable solutions. Because the materials to harness natural forces are very expensive, the overall cost of the construction is usually very high and might even exceed the amount of profit gained from the energy in some cases. Therefore, potential contributors to sustainability give up and continue to use fossil fuels, with no hope of helping the environment.  
 
In the future, scientists will probably still investigate alternative ways to create a sustainable environment, but they might use up time that we do not have. Soon, we need to start directing all our attention to this problem. Not attention into wars with our own kind, not attention into the scary nuclear bombs which potentially kill people. But to the problem that will certainly kill us all. 
 
So, for the future world, here is our message: we need to act upon this issue. We need to reunite every possible contribution we can. We need to find other ways to sustain our planet and find ways to motivate our people into using them. We need to manage our planet so that way, our sons, grandsons, and hundreds of other generations can live on without the worries we have due to this problem. We need to create a sustainable Earth. ​