Mercy Corps Climate Change - MMa

Mercy Corps

-February 2, 2011-

This past Wednesday, my class went on another informative trip to Mercy Corps! This time, our focus was on climate change. The subject of climate change is well known, and even more known as ‘Global Warming’, which in fact is a false title. Climate change doesn't effect everyone equally though. I, myself experience little to
none of the effects of climate change, unlike the people of Niger, a country in west Africa. Within the last few years, a major water source for Niger, Lake Chad, the third largest lake in Africa, dried up to the point that it wasn't even in their country anymore! Now if that isn't bad, I don't know what is.

So, in Mercy Corps, they posed the question, "What are some tangible solutions in the everyday life to mitigate the effects of climate change in our community and the world?" The question itself seems so large, complicated and plan out intimidating, but really it just means "How can you be a little more eco-friendly in your life?". When I here this I think, 'Use less water', and ' Don't waste energy'. Simply taking shorter showers, or only using the necessary amount of water when brushing you teeth can be the answer. The answer for me is simple, just save what you can. Turning of lights when you leave a room, unplugging electronics when they aren't in use, even the littlest things will help. As a regular person, as a child I cannot change the
world, but as me, I can do my part.

Though, on a larger scale, from the point of a world leader or something, I could do a ton more. If I were able to, I would get a large group of world renown scientists to begin creating blue prints, models and such for extreme solar, hydro, and bio electricity systems. Where we could harness at least 10x more power from each. With this energy, we could power alternative transportation, such as subways, tram, etc. Which would save fuel, and our atmosphere. But for now, this won’t happen, for two reasons. Number one, I am not a world leader. Number two, this would cost a lot of money. Apparently, the movement cares more about money than a future.