Piedmont Mass Communications Department

Global warming is no stranger to the world. Records go back as far as 650,000 years ago to show that the world as we know it has gone through a considerable amount of warming stages. It is the noticeable cause of many catastrophes that our human races have been enduring for the past few years and many scientists predict that not only will the warming worsen but it will continue to be the cause for great natural disasters to many lands on our globe. Perhaps we must then consider the effects of global warming and see what is being done about it.

There are many agencies that are trying to eliminate amounts of carbon dioxide deposits in our air but there is not enough participation to effectively reduce the percentage of CO2 that we see fit in our atmosphere. The problems currently outweigh the solutions which cause the problems to worsen. We, the leading generations, must fight this evil that we have full-fledged. We should establish and strengthen partnerships between the private sector, governments, international institutions, and the young people.

Environmental genocide is exactly what awaits our globe as the levels of bad air in our atmosphere accrue over the years. According to Kenneth Mankoff, a computer scientist of Columbia Centre for Climate Research, the population of Earth will increase to 9.2 billion by the year 2050. If his hypothesis becomes factual and the CO2 emissions do not decrease, the global warming process will cause nothing less of genocide. The United States government does all that it can to ensure the safety of its people. However, Professor of Geosciences, Michael Oppenheimer of Princeton University, believes the global warming crisis is not on the government’s top priority list. Although nothing may be done to prevent what has already happened in the world as far as natural disasters, the predictions of our future may be changed. As the leading generation of young professionals, it is our mission to help “save tomorrow”, to ensure that the future generations live long and fulfilling lives just as we have. We must save our lands from being destroyed by rising sea levels. According to Kenneth Mankoff, the globe can expect to lose many highly populated cities such as Shanghai of China, the lower part of Manhattan in New York City, and thousands of various island chains. Due to the rapid amounts of ice caps melting in the Sub Arctic region. Antarctica and Greenland are two of the biggest ice caps in the world and both are on the verge of rapid melting. Mr. Mankoff also added that if Greenland were to melt completely, it would send the ocean sea level rising over 25 feet. That alone will cause catastrophe to the world.

Education is the key to reducing the amounts of carbon dioxide emissions. The government has not done a very good job of alerting its people on this crisis. The opposite can be said about independent non-profit organizations, like ATHGO International. According to Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, the public should be educated properly and it is the young people that can make the difference. The young generations have very close ties together and as they speak amongst themselves, they can strive to come up with solutions to save the world. This statement is very trustworthy as my experience at the ATHGO Global Forum spoke for itself. Over 400 young professionals came together to deliberate solutions to the Global crisis and did so with lasting knowledge. If we can come together on a global standpoint, global warming can be a thing of yesterday.

When we as young professionals sit at our desks and deliberate amongst one another about this crisis, we come up with the conclusion that all we can do is “regret today” what has already happened. There is nothing that we can do about what happens today, what happened yesterday, or even what happened in 2005. What we can do is forgive and live on. We can educate ourselves and make sure not to make the same mistakes as in the past. The predictions can be contradicted and our world can live on and it is education that will save the day.

As a young adult, I am very sensitive as to what will happen in the near future. Will there be hell? Will there be mayhem? If everyone took the serious approach that most of the ATHGO participants have, then we can all help and save our world. The young professionals have already started addressing the United Nations; we have already started to address Congress; and we have already started to address the young people. It is the elementary children we are most sensitive to because they are developing their minds as we speak. It is vitally important that we fill their heads with awareness and facts. That is why I propose that we as the leading generation make it possible to make global warming issues part of a child’s regular education because it all starts there.