Lydia Chong

Mr. Milner
Exit Project

Our Shared Environment

Writing Component #1

Everyone should know by now that the quality of our environment is

deteriorating every second that passes on earth. Itll only get more and more
worse if we do nothing about it. This will seriously affect the way we will live in the
future. I think it's important to see the impact of using natural resources,
pollution and global warming has on our planet to help save it.
For hundreds of years and even today, people have wasted and used up
almost all of our natural resources. Primarily fossil fuel. Fossil fuel is the oil that
we depend the most on. Unfortunately, humans consume more than 11 billion tons
of oil each year. At this rate, all known oil reserves will be used up by 2052. Even if
we use other natural resources such as shale gas and coal, all the energy produced
from these resources is only going to last us until 2088.
About 97% of the total water available on Earth is in the oceans and is too
salty to drink. Only 3% is water that we can use safely. Which is freshwater. But, of
that 3%, about 2,997% is inside glaciers and ice caps leaving only 0.003% readily
available to us. This makes fresh water precious for all living beings on this planet.
With industrial development and modern civilization, the problem of water
pollution is increasing day by day. If industries continue to eliminate waste water,
industrial waste, radioactive waste and have oil leaks in the oceans, the future wars
in our world may well be fought for water.

Global warming also causes damage in many parts of the world. In the US,
global warming has caused many forest fires, droughts and sandstorms. But the
United States is not the only affected area. In tropical / warmer regions, we have
seen more aggressive tsunamis and hurricanes in recent years. In 2003, a wave of
extreme heat caused more than 20,000 deaths in Europe and more than 1,500 died
in India. Although most deaths were elderly, almost all of Europe had been deeply
affected. Doctors in France stated that the elderly were "dropping like flies" in the
intense heat.
I dont think its too late to start making a change for the benefit of this
planet. We must be vigilant to keep our natural resources where they are and stop
polluting our waters. By doing this (and do many other things) we can reduce our
carbon footprint and reduce global warming. I believe we can help the planet and
prepare a better future for the next generation. After all, we have only one earth.