How have students at PV taken action?

Climate change is a phenomenon altering the planet at an alarming rate. The worldwide initiative to combat climate change has just started to gain momentum, but the student initiative at PV is going strong.

Climate change is a natural process in which the earth undergoes the long-term alteration of temperature and weather patterns. Earth’s climate has varied drastically since its existence 4.5 billion years ago; in the past 650,000 years alone, the earth has undergone seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat, significantly wavering the planet’s weather patterns.

The problem is not that the climate is changing—it has been since Earth’s birth—but the rate at which it is changing. The culprit? Humans.

Since the Industrial Revolution, people have excessively chopped down trees to make more room for urban development and have heavily been dependent on machines that are rely on nonrenewable resources. As a result, this has exacerbated the natural greenhouse effect, skyrocketing temperatures to alarming levels.

According to the 2017 U.S Climate Science Report, human actions are causing 11 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide to be added to the atmosphere each year. If this trend continues, by the end of the century, Earth’s temperature could be 10.2 degrees warmer.

It is obvious that climate change is a serious problem, but what is being done to fight it?

Students at PV know that taking better care of the environment begins with action. Even the smallest of actions goes a long way in making a difference in addressing this crisis.

In his free time after school, junior Phil Lin does not immediately go home like many of his peers; instead, he goes around campus picking up litter to clean the environment.

“For the past few years, I’ve noticed that the littering problem at our school has only gotten worse. Parking lots are filled with trash everywhere and no one seems to be doing anything about it,” Lin explained. “Although picking up litter may go unrecognized, being able to see the entire parking lot clean is very fulfilling to me.”

Lin knows littering hurts the environment, especially when the trash that is thrown away can be recycled but is not. During the production and distribution process, companies produce greenhouse gases and contribute to exhausting natural resources. However, when trash is disposed properly, the energy as well as the release of further greenhouse gases can be reduced.

“It’s a great way to get involved in environmental efforts and make yourself feel good about helping the environment and community. Taking your trash home or throwing it in the garbage bins inside the school doesn’t take much effort, but it can go a long way in making our school look cleaner and even helping the janitorial staff out as well,” Lin said.

Car emissions are a major contributor to green-house gas emissions and climate change, too. So to PV alum Ranai Srivastav, reducing his carbon footprint was an imperative part of his high-school years. Srivastav rode his bike to transport everywhere when he lived in Bettendorf.

Not only was biking reducing his carbon footprint, but it was the convenience of biking that encouraged Srivastav to bike everywhere he could. “I love biking for how efficient it is,” Srivastav expressed. “I prefer biking to places over driving because not only can I get everywhere in a fast manner, but I get exercise at the same time while not burning any fossil fuels, all for free.”

With mother nature looking out for us by providing us with vast natural resources, it is just as important to look out for the only home we have.  If more people put more effort into reducing their carbon footprint like Lin and Srivastav, not only will the effects of climate change diminish, but people feel better about themselves for making a positive impact.