Let's Act Now

Hello all! I want to thank all of you for being the best audience you can ever be. I honestly never imagined giving my story in front of so many people! 

I would like to start from the very beginning of my life. My name is Johanna Mary Katherine. Many people like to call Joe, Mary, or J.K. (pun intended). 

As a child, say about six or seven, I have always been fascinated by Earth. About evolution of the biosphere. How humans came about, how Earth formed, how animals evolved, the process of plants, photosynthesis, everything. I was curious about how we could live on Earth, but cannot on other planets. 

Once I got a little older, in middle school, I started to really understand the layers of Earth. What it is made up of. What greenhouse gases were, how nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide were all important for us to live. 

Then, I was introduced to the topic of photosynthesis. How plants get food from the sun, and how they give off carbon dioxide. It was very interesting how they get nutrients from the soil, energy from the sun, and how they use their talent to help Earth have a cleaner atmosphere. I remember my seventh-grade biology teacher, Mrs. Sandra, telling us all about these processes and the importance of planting gardens and trees. She was my favorite teacher in the entire world, and I had gotten motivated by her words, and convinced my family, friends, and cousins to plant trees as well. 

But then came along the topic of Climate Change. I had learned that the greenhouse gases were working much harder than they ever need to, and as a result, is capturing more and more heat and giving it to the atmosphere. This action of trapping more heat is heating up Earth too much. The animals living in the poles are not able to survive because the glaciers, ice caps, their entire home is heating up. 

This will cause unbalance in the entire food chain and the ecosystem. Think about it! Polar bears love to eat seals, and these seals love to eat fish. Fish love to feed on other fish, or algae. But if there are no fish, there are fewer seals, and when there are fewer seals, there are fewer polar bears, and so on. But humans also love to eat fish, and if there are fewer, the fishing industry will collapse. This was just an example how what is currently happening right now. 

Not only is the climate getting hotter affecting the animals and humans, but it is also affecting the layers of the atmosphere. 

There are five main layers in the atmosphere: Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, and Exosphere. Each of the layers is crucial to us. The Troposphere is the closest layer of gases to Earth. It is where all the weather occurs. So, if there is so much heat in the climate, there will be much more humidity. More humidity means more rains, storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, and so on. This can impact society a lot. Tropical climates such as Florida will have more of these severe weathers. Just like the food chain, the weather also needs to have a balance. 

The Stratosphere is where airplanes and weather balloons fly. If there is terrible weather in the Troposphere, then it will affect meteorologists a lot when they cannot get accurate information in their weather balloons. Also, if you all have a dream vacation and have just booked a plane, well...you gotta be careful!

The Mesosphere is where meteorites are. This layer makes sure that most meteors burn up and don't even enter Earth. Now, I'm not saying that this layer is terrible, but there have been very rare cases where meteors have passed through Earth. 

The Thermosphere is most important. If you ever wanna go to the beach and have a tan, make sure to thank this layer! The Thermosphere is the one that protects us from any harmful UV radiation from the sun. Plus, ever heard of the Northern Lights? Well, they happen in this layer!

Lastly, the Exosphere. Well, this layer is nothing but space, so we can just leave this layer alone.

But, you all might be asking why all this information is important. If you are, then you are on the right track. If we make sure to not burn so many fossil fuels such as coal, then we are ensuring that the greenhouse gases are not trapping too much heat. Our climate has changed a lot, but we are not hopeless yet!

Once I learned all this information, I wanted to start an organization called "START NOW; SAVE EARTH", where we all plant trees, do the three R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), and help the Earth become a much better place for all of the biosphere. 

We all have to understand that all four spheres are connected. We are a part of the biosphere, meaning we are all living things. We all need the hydrosphere, water, to meet our needs. We need the atmosphere, the air, to help us breathe. We need the geosphere because we need a stable place to walk. Not only that, the geosphere contains crust and the lithosphere which are crucial parts to form landforms and continents. Lastly, in a way, we also need the cryosphere, which stands for all the ice and glaciers in the world. 

Everything we do is a domino effect. All humans must understand that whatever they are doing is also affecting the other four spheres. Once we try to maintain a balance between all the spheres, it will help Earth greatly.

So, this is how I want to conclude my talk. I want to help advise everyone to start now and save Earth. We are all part of it, you over there, you in the back corner, and myself. Let us all hold hands and take one step together to prevent Earth from becoming like the other planets in our Solar System.

Let's act now.