該是保護地球的時候了It’s time to Protect the Earth

國立台中一中 林篤雍

Recently, the global warming has become more serious and resulted in many problems. For example, the strong typhoons and hurricanes caused drastic damages and claimed many people’s lives. In addition, some areas such as southeastern Asia were flooded by heavy rain while some areas such as the Africa encountered the drought. These unusual climate changes bring about many creatures’ dying out. The number of the polar bears is decreasing rapidly, so do bees, butterflies, birds and so on. The rising sea levels resulted from the melting of the iceberg threatens our habitats and lives. Now there are more and more people concerned about the global warming and try to solve the problems so as to prevent the crisis from getting beyond the control. There are some methods below which can solve or reduce the impact from global warming. First, we must cut down on the emissions of carbon dioxide. Due to the development of industry, more and more carbon dioxide was released to the atmosphere and worsen the global warming. We should conserve energy instead of consuming the fossil fuels too much. We can research the alternative energy such as solar energy and some renewable resources. In addition, we need to improve the energy efficiency on cars and appliances. Second, we should correct and change our bad habits in our daily life. When we go out, it is better to replace the scooter and car with the bicycle. It can not only reduce the carbon emissions but also benefit our health. If the destination is far, taking the public transportation such as buses, train is a good choice. When you finish the electric appliances or exit the room, don’t forget to remove the plug and turn off the light. In summer, reduce the time using the air conditioner; instead, using the fan is better because the former exhausts more energy than the latter. In addition, eating less meat on the meal becomes a trend around the world. Many people think eating less meat leads to the lower demand on meat, and eating meat product is one of the reasons worsening the global warming. So maybe you can cultivate the habit having a diet without meat once or twice a week. In Taiwan, when we buy snacks or drinks, we are accustomed to putting them into the plastic bags which the clerk provided. The plastic bas and disposable utensils are common to use in many places. I think we create too much garbage like that and our garbage classification is awful. Burning more garbage leads to the carbon dioxide appearing and worsens the global warming. So we should understand the importance of three Rs and put them into practice. Reduce the amount of garbage which you create, reuse what you can use and recycle what you can’t use. We should keep in mind bringing our own shopping bags and utensils so that we don’t rely on the plastic bags and utensils any more. Finally, the government should complement the limitation of carbon emissions thoroughly and make some regulations which is beneficial to decelerate the global warming. In addition, international cooperation against global warming is urgent. The developed countries and the developing countries should compromise first and reach agreements so as to solve the problems. The earth is a planet where we live. We have damaged her for a long time. Now it’s time to protect the earth and to make our descendants grow happily and safely!