Ian Chalmers

Ms. Price

English 2

October 18, 2018

Generation Z and Climate Changes Effect On Earth

Climate Change is one of, if not, the biggest problems that Generation Z will face right

now and in the upcoming years.The definition of Climate Change is “a change in global or

regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century

onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by

the use of fossil fuels”, according to NASA in the article, ‘What is Climate Change.’ If Climate

Change is life alone and not attended to, there will be no Earth left inhabitable for future

generations. There are many forms of Climate Change such as Global Warming, Ozone Layer

Depletion, Carbon Dioxide Storage in the Atmosphere, etc. Carbon Though Climate Change

seems like a huge problem on a grand scale there are ways that Generation Z and future/past

generations can solve this global problem, such as finding sources of renewable energy like

Energy Windmills and Wind Turbines.

Climate Change is a global catastrophic event that is progressively changing the Earth for

the worse. One example of how Climate Change is affecting Earth is said by author Joseph F.

DiMento, in which he says in his article, Climate Change : What It Means For Our Children and

Grandchildren, “Our best estimate of the Earth’s climate sensitivity, a measure of the change in

global temperature in response to a doubling of atmospheric CO2, is an increase in temperature

between 2-4.5 Celsius (3.6-8.1 Fahrenheit; Alley et al. 2007).” Statistics that are recorded in such

manner can be used to help prove the existence of Climate Change, through Global Warming.
What people do not realise is that a few degrees in change can lead to catastrophic changes. The

average temperature increased up to 8 degrees since the last recording from the 90’s, and this

statistic was recorded in 2007, so there is no telling how much the temperature increased since

the last recording. Also from the same article, but in the subsection; Climate-Changes effects,

Adaptation and Mitigation; Joseph says, “From Climate Change, natural variability in climate is

an additional stressor in the network of factors (e.g., war, poverty, diseases) that affect the ability

of populations to meet these needs”. Climate change does not only affect temperature and air

quality, it can also lead to ability to not produce or grow food. Though it may seem like we have

changed the Earth permanently, there are many different ways to help limit or solve Climate

Change such as renewable energy.

There are not many sources of renewable energy, but the amount that we have now are

helping contribute to the prevention of Climate Change. Renewable energy is energy that we can

obtain without the burning of fossil fuels. An explanation for one source of renewable energy is

said by Amanda Lanser in her article Adapting to Climate Change. She says, “As high tide nears,

large gates within the barrage slide down to contain the water. When the tides changes, the gates

lift and the turbines capture the energy in the water rushes back to the sea.” The author is trying

to say that one valid source of renewable energy is tidal waves and the energy they release.

Another form of renewable energy is wind energy harvested by turbine. As AWEA (American

Wind Energy Association) puts it, “Wind energy (or wind power) refers to the process of

creating electricity using the wind, or air flows that occur naturally in earth’s atmosphere.” This

energy can be harvested through Wind Turbines or Windmills, which are usually big structures

with fans that are connected to motors that gain energy from being turned by wind. Windmill

farms are now prominent in coastal cities because of the thermal and wind changes that cause
huge gusts around the bay area. Sea turbines and wind turbines are quite uncommon , but they

are good sources of cheap and efficient renewable energy.

Though many people do not understand or trust renewable energy sources they are quite

efficient and cheap. Both forms of renewable energy, Wind Turbine and Sea Turbines, are very

viable sources of energy because they can be sued almost infinitely and are found throughout the

world. On the website Borntobeanengineer.com, there is an infographic about renewable sources

shows how positive and effective these sources of energy are such as the infographic saying,

“Wind power could provide as much as 25% to 30% of global electricity by 2050.” In the same

infographic they also state that currently, “Hydroelectricity accounts to 7% of total U.S. Energy

Production and is low operation and maintenance costs but high investment cost.” Renewable

energy sounds like an unruly and not normal source of energy, but with them people can have an

ethical and pollution preventing source of energy that no longer deals with burning fossil fuels.

Renewable sources of energy such as hydroelectric dams and wind turbines are the future

of energy throughout the world. If this generation continues to use fossil fuels and non-

renewable energy sources, climate change such as global warming and rising tides will leave the

Earth an inhabitable mess that will force Generation Z and the last generations to deal with the

last resources. Climate Change right now may seem to be a small event that is occuring right

now, but if people put into perspective how fast it is in effect versus the past 4 decades,

Generation Z and future generations may not have the same Earth to live in.