Climate change has been a  popular topic of discussion recently. You may have seen numerous Instagram posts about saving the turtles, planting trees, or cleaning up the ocean. While many students are quick to share these posts, they might not be doing anything. To really save our earth, we need to step up and take action.  

What exactly is climate change? Well, it’s self-explanatory, it’s the changing of the Earth’s climate over a period of time. The warming that results from the heat being trapped in the atmosphere has been changing temperatures more rapidly than scientists have seen before. Scientists at NASA attribute this rapid climate change to the “Greenhouse Effect”. The Greenhouse Effect is “warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space”. Gases like water vapor, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and methane contribute to the Greenhouse Effect. These gases are naturally present on Earth, but due to the human activities of the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, the “natural greenhouse” is changing for the worst.

What does climate change actually do? NASA claims the effects of climate change include the shrinking of glaciers, accelerated sea level rise, intense heat waves, and the shifting/ overall extinction of plant and animal species. National Geographic stated, “global sea levels are rising 0.13 inches a year, and the rise is occurring at a faster rate in recent years.” While we in Maple Valley might not be able to see such changes, one sign of destructive human activities we can see is trash. On sidewalks and streets, plastic is virtually everywhere, and our planet is feeling the consequences.

The  Pacific Ocean carries an “island” of trash called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The pile is three times the size of France and contains at least 79,000 tons of plastic. Worst of all, it’s only continuing to grow. Pictures have gone viral of wildlife eating, choking, and dying from the plastic surrounding their homes. A video was released showing a plastic straw being pulled from a sea turtles nose, and since, we have seen the urge to ban plastic straws in chain restaurants, an example being Starbucks. If a big company like Starbucks can work to stop the consumption of plastic, what can Tahoma students do as well?

Tahoma Sophomore Rachel Davis shared thoughts on how Tahoma students can lower their consumption of plastic. “Students could use more reusable items, like lunch boxes and water bottles,” said Davis when asked about simple changes students can make. If a few students start bringing their own reusable items, more will want to join in, lowering the amount of trash produced by the student body. Although school is coming to an end, Davis suggested that this summer students “bring their own bags when going shopping” and “walk to places instead of driving”. Davis warned that posts students share about saving the environment aren’t always true. If students want to make a difference, they should spend less time sharing posts and more time actually taking action.