Abstract: This opinion editorial was the first essay we were tasked in creating for the class. The purpose of this op-ed is to explain the issue of climate change and how important it is that people come together to combat this issue. This paper starts off by discussing the differing views on this issue, as there are many people who do not believe climate change is real. The paper then goes on to discuss why and how climate change is affecting our everyday lives, for example explaining how corporations are constantly emitting greenhouse gases that contribute to the overall warming of the planet. The overall message of this op-ed is to create clarification on what climate change is, why it is important, and how we can work together to prevent further climate change issues. I have provided images from peer reviewed drafts of this essay that show the helpful feedback given to further strengthen my argument, and construct a well thought out paper.

REPORTING TO YOU

Opinion

Climate Change is Real. We Are The Cause, but we Can Be The Cure.

People contribute immensely to the change in our climate everyday, yet many people still do not believe it. How can we help?

By Sofia Blandon

Buzzfeed Contributor

Posted on February 29, 2020, at 8:30 p.m. ET

Chris Flood/ FT/ Getty Images

In today’s society there are many people who understand that climate change is serious and occurring everyday. Climate change is the long term change in the average weather that makes up Earth’s various regions. This subject is being highlighted more on the news and in mass media, which allows for people all over the world to gain knowledge on what is going on.

There are however still people who do not believe climate change is real. This includes President Trump, of the United States, who stated, “I am not a believer… Unless somebody can prove something to me, I believe there’s weather… ” on a radio show interview.  He even pulled out of the Paris Climate Agreement, leading to less economic benefits for the solution to climate change. The fact that our own president is not understanding how important this issue has become is scary, and because of his mindset other people feel the same.

Some people even feel that focusing on this issue is a waste of time and money. In the article “Climate change: the Hoax that Costs Us $4 Billion a Day” written for BreitBart James Delingpole states, “…feel-bad nature documentaries about how it’s all your fault that this stuff ‘may’ soon disappear; energy-saving light bulbs that take your nocturnal home back to the kind of sepulchral gloom… in the 1890s;…”

This goes to show that people like Delingpole feel that gaining knowledge from the ‘feel-bad’ nature documentaries and using beneficial things like energy saving light bulbs should not be occurring because nothing is happening that would require these necessities.

These large numbers of climate skeptics, then in turn continue to support the corporations that produce greenhouse gases everyday and pollute the Earth. According to an article on the Natural Resources Defense Council website, “… the top 15 U.S. food and beverage companies generate nearly 630 million metric tons of greenhouse gases every year.” The immense increase in greenhouse gas emissions are a result of these companies being supported by the mindless consumerism of the nation. Companies should take initiative to not only report how much they are emitting but also to reduce their emissions.

While climate change naturally occurs through radiation of solar energy and volcanic eruptions, industry has intensified the contribution that greenhouse gasses have on rapid rise in heat. The exploitation of the earth’s resources and ecosystem by humans is what truly makes climate change frightening, and the issue is only becoming worse the more these corporations ignore the warnings.

The anthropogenic, industrial production of greenhouse gases by society and corporations are the most significant contribution to the overall warming of the planet. Another anthropogenic cause is deforestation, which contributes to the emission of carbon gases globally.

Even though the ocean is a natural carbon sink, with the increasing amounts emitted it is becoming less capable to absorb it all. Therefore, earth’s oceans are overwhelmed with the abundant amounts of carbon. The use of fertilizer and the production of livestock emit gases like methane and nitrous oxide, another incredibly culpable factor in the climate crisis.

Now taking everything into account, what are the long term effects of climate change? The increase in warm temperatures could cause a change in weather patterns, leading dry areas to become dryer and wet areas to become wetter. Australia just recently experienced a series of devastating wildfires, due to the severe increase in temperatures and drought. Many people, wildlife, and plants have been burned and destroyed, so much so that organizations around the world have been working to raise money to help restore these damages.

This is just one of the many destructive occurrences that can happen as a result of climate change. There is also the melting of the ice caps in areas like Alaska and the geographic poles, due to the warmer temperatures, and in turn cause animals in those areas to lose their habitats. This also means that the people who live in these areas have less available food, creating a whole new set of problems.

Many health risks also come with climate change, as increasing temperatures can cause heat strokes and other heat related calamities. This summer at the New York Botanical Garden for instance, where I work, many of our students had trouble participating in outdoor activities because the temperatures were so high and the sun was quite intense. The constant pollution in the air can also lead to problems like asthma. Most importantly, there will eventually be no Earth for us to inhabit if the proper actions are not taken now.

What are some ways we can help slow the rapid changing climate? For starters, communities can join together in holding corporations accountable for the amount of greenhouse gases they emit, and fight for a reduction in those emissions.

Contacting your local and state governments to express how important it is to create policies that would help the environment could lead people to live cleaner and greener lives.

Being more energy efficient, like using solar energy, would also help cut down the carbon footprints we leave behind everyday. At the garden we use composting toilets to help save water, and solar panels to power the lights that we have under our pavilions. These are just some ways we can contribute to helping the Earth.

Some people might ask, why is this important? Well, it is important to first be informed on what is happening on a planet in which we all share. It is equally important to want to preserve that planet for not only ourselves, but also for future generations. We must also not forget the wildlife and plant life that inhabit this planet, and would like to continue to do so. As someone who works in the environment myself, I truly believe that if we all work together we can help to slow the rapid climate change and ultimately save our planet.

 Works Cited

Axelrod, Joshua. “Corporate Honesty and Climate Change: Time to Own Up and Act.” NRDC, 27 Feb. 2019, www.nrdc.org/experts/josh-axelrod/corporate-honesty-and-climate-change-time-own-and-act.

Gregoire, Carolyn. “Why Some Conservatives Still Won’t Accept Climate Change Is Real.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 4 Dec. 2015, www.huffpost.com/entry/climate-change-denial-psychology_n_56438664e4b045bf3ded5ca5.

Harvard. “Global-Warming-6-PBS Global Warming The Signs and the Science.” Vimeo, 23 Feb. 2020, vimeo.com/87880192.

Johnson, Keith. “Is the United States Really Leaving the Paris Climate Agreement?” Foreign Policy, 5 Nov. 2019, foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/05/paris-climate-agreement-united-states-withdraw/.

“Overview: Weather, Global Warming and Climate Change.” NASA, NASA, 28 Aug. 2019, climate.nasa.gov/resources/global-warming-vs-climate-change/.

    Reflection

            The publication that I chose to pitch to was Buzzfeed News. I chose to do Buzzfeed News because I knew that when writing this opinion editorial, I wanted to write to a publication that attracted the younger generations. Buzzfeed is typically used by teenagers who are reading articles on their phone or on their laptops at school, and I knew writing an article to this publication would grasp the attention of these people. There are many teens that have an idea of climate change, but do not know too much information. That being said, my targeted audience was for the younger demographic, around my age, who want to be more informed on this topic and be able to go out and make a difference. I intended to target this audience by writing in a way that was digestible to all and providing information that was easy enough to understand. I also provided real ways they can help contribute to finding a solution to this problem, like going to vote for people who are on board with new climate change laws as many teens are going to be able to vote for the first time in the upcoming election. The purpose of this opinion editorial is to help give these people more knowledge of climate change and hope to invoke a sense of activism. I wanted people to read this and not only learn from it, but also want to get out and tell other people that they should be helping make a change too.

The rhetorical situation addressed in this op-ed is climate change, and how a major cause to this is due to anthropogenic mechanisms, and we should work towards a solution to this problem. I used logos for the most part in this op-ed as a way to provide real facts and examples of how this problem is real and should be taken seriously. In providing a concrete definition of what climate change is in the beginning of the article, I hoped that readers would have a better understanding of the concept. I also provided facts on how corporations are contributing to the excess amount of greenhouse gases, and linked an article so that readers could learn about this more in depth. The genre of this op-ed is informational, and I knew that in order to emphasize how important it is to be knowledgeable on this topic I needed to supply different reasons as to how this is actually happening in our society and why. In giving explanations about how humans contribute greatly to the problem, like through deforestation, and livestock farming, I hoped that readers would take into consideration how much weight our actions hold and want to help reverse this. I also included the natural elements of climate change because it is important to note that the Earth is warming on its own as well, but the rapid increase in temperatures are due to more anthropogenic actions. The tone of this op-ed is more conversational, I asked questions throughout the article, like “What are some ways we can help slow the rapid changing climate?”, to connect with readers and let them know that we are all in this together. I also provided pathos throughout the article, like when I mentioned my own experiences out in the environment with students and how we are very eco friendly at the garden, to show that I wrote this op-ed because I care about the Earth and I want others to understand why we should preserve this planet and do more to help it rather than harm it.

I tried following the style in which Buzzfeed news writes their articles because I wanted to fit with the elements of this publication.  Upon reading a few other articles on the website I saw that they are usually broken up into multiple short paragraphs, so as to keep readers engaged and not feeling like they are reading an essay from school. I tried to make sure I used this same technique when writing my opinion editorial, as I wanted my audience to be interested in what they were reading and not feel like it was dragging on for too long. All of the articles also usually begin with a picture and then go into the writing. I chose to use a picture that displays a factory polluting the air, because this is one of the biggest contributors to the problem of climate change. I also incorporated the use of hyperlinks, many of the articles posted to Buzzfeed news contain several underlined portions of sentences that link to outside sources so if readers want to learn more about something in detail they could. I made sure to do this with certain sections within the op-ed, for example when I mentioned how President Trump was not a believer of climate change, I linked an article that talks more about that and what he had to say. My op-ed was not focusing on Trump so I did not want to write too much about what was said by him, but I provided the link so that if people wanted to know more they had the option to do so.

Overall, I had a lot of fun writing this piece, it was unlike anything I had ever written so it was a bit difficult to work out at first. However, after going over the example in class, and reading a few articles on the buzzfeed news website I started to piece together how I wanted mine to look. The peer review session was very helpful, and the biggest change I needed to make was incorporating the ‘me’ element into my writing. Formatting an article made me feel very official, and I enjoyed learning more about climate change and sharing what I learned.