LETTER: Langley student powers through assignment on climate change

Grade 7 students at Gordon Greenwood Elementary were tasked with writing about climate change. Presented are a selection of their writings online and in print.

Dear Editor,

Safe energy sources

Did you know that the energy industry handles over 70 per cent of our CO2 emissions yearly? So, it is my honest opinion that the first thing we should do to start solving is revolutionize our energy industry. However it is hard to know which energy sources are the cleanest and the safest. Which is what I am going to talk about today.

I think that it will be beneficial for you to understand why I am so concerned about global warming does not everybody like the warmth. Yes, while most people do like the warmth global warming affects many other things as well. Such as weather and water rise. When greenhouse gasses exit into the atmosphere, however they were created. They thicken our atmosphere and because the rays of the sun are much higher powered on the way in and less powerful on the way out, so they stay, thus increasing the heat of our planet.

Also did you know that although here on the continents the heat does not increase drastically on the continents if at all.

Like you cannot even notice it if very much at all unless for the fact that we get slightly less snow each year. However, in the Arctic and Antarctic the story is much different. Because of the gulf stream (a giant moving body of water that moves from the equator towards the Arctic or Antarctic) the heat cycles towards the poles thereby heating the poles much faster maybe hundreds of times faster than near the equator.

The second important thing that climate affects is the weather because of wind patterns heat is focused into certain locations while in others there is much less heat. Therefore, in some places severe droughts happen while in others the water vapor condenses and floods locations with less heat.

Storms also fall into the weather category. When the sun’s rays land on the sea, they evaporate the water and because of the airs temperature difference more severe storms happen and they happen much more often.

Now let’s discuss why do these things happen now and not before if CO2 is and was ejected before naturally. Now like I said before electricity production accounts for more than 70 per cent of our CO2 production. Now why does electricity production account for so much of our CO2 production? That is because we’re producing electricity using dirty sources such as:

- Coal: Coal takes up resources that take many hundreds of years to develop, but we burn them in minutes. Also, coal is the result of dead animals and trees that hold a lot of carbon which during burning transforms back into CO2

- Wind: Wind energy has quite low CO2 production, however it produces next to no energy, requires a lot of maintenance, and it is very unpredictable. For example, in Germany their wind sources gave out because there was no wind, and they had an energy crisis because they didn’t have enough energy.

- Biomass: Biomass energy is not effective because we must grow food just to throw it into a burner. However, although it does solve the problem of renewable energy sources, it still produces a lot of CO2.

However, do not give up there are several useful sources that can help us stop climate change. Several good energy sources that produce less CO2 and produce quite a lot of energy.

- Nuclear: Nuclear energy is the best choice, because it is very predictable; there will be no energy spikes or not enough energy. Also, nuclear energy produces almost no CO2. For all those people out there, who are going to send me a bunch hate letters – nuclear power plants are much safer now and people are better trained.

- Geothermal: Geothermal energy is also rather good, because it produces no CO2 emissions during its work, however making it does produce CO2. The main problem with geothermal power is that it takes the heat of the earth’s core and if the earth’s core freezes then we all die.

However, there is one more energy source that has a practical use however it isn’t highly effective.

- Solar: Solar energy has a practical use. Deserts covers about 14 per cent of the earth’s continents however because of the intense heat, plants cannot grow and because there isn’t enough water to grow. Solar panels could fix this if we place them higher up, they will absorb the suns heat and supply energy at the same time. If it absorbs the heat, then water can stay, and the plants will grow.

So, in conclusion although global warming is already here and a severe problem. However, if we start to work on stopping climate change now, we can still save the planet, and we have ways to do this.

Nothing is unsolvable or unachievable.

Sasha, Grade 7, Gordon Greenwood Elementary

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