Climate Change Is Global Wake Up Call

To the editor,

Did you know that by the year 2050, one-fourth of Earth’s species would be heading towards extinction? This is an alarming prediction provided by nature.org, which could become a reality if we don’t act fast enough to prevent this and preserve human life. However, the cause of this prediction isn’t war or famine, its climate change. This is a very real issue that more people need to be informed about, as ignorance could threaten our world’s sustainability.
   
The biggest issue with climate change is human behavior. We’re so dependent on natural gas, coal, and petroleum that we are too stubborn to adopt a substitute, even when it’s threatening our way of life! We ignore the fact that this energy in non-renewable. We ignore the fact that this energy is not clean and is harming our environment. We ignore the fact that there are other better sources of energy out there for us to utilize. So, what does the entirety of the human race continue to do? Stay complacent by continuing to use limited sources of energy that we’ve relied on for decades. We can’t stay complacent if we care about the future of the human race. Something needs to be done!
   
We should be focusing on the alternatives, such as energy derived from the wind, sun, and the water. This is due to two important factors. The first is that these three things produce clean energy, making them perfect as an alternative. By using wind, sun, and water energy, the environment will not be harmed in any way. Secondly, these alternative sources of energy are highly renewable. We may be worrying about running out of natural gas, but we’ll never have to worry about running out of the wind, sun, or water! The fact that all three of these things are abundant in nature makes them highly accessible as well. Clearly, this is the direction that we should be heading in.
   
If we continue to stick with non-renewable energy, we’ll be facing the endangerment of wildlife, rising seas, more floods, more droughts, more forest fires, worse storms, more heat-related illnesses, and economic loss. However, if we switch over to clean, renewable energy, we’ll have a beautiful environment devoid of multiple disasters. The only true struggle this alternative faces is adoption rate. It will be hard to switch everyone over to renewable energy, but it is something that needs to be done.
   
But more people need a wake up call. We’re continuing to head toward our own demise by using the same types of energy over and over again. Some people may scoff when they read this, saying that I’m preaching doom and gloom, but the reality of this situation is that it really can harm us. The sooner that people start to realize this simple fact, the faster we can head toward a more sustainable future.

-- Anthony Vigna