Political Cartoons

In this political cartoon, Stephen Harper, current prime minister of Canada, is saying that the U.S. is being piled up with garbage and we should not be worrying. But really, the pollution and garbage they are causing is effecting us as well. We shouldn't just be sitting there watching everthing happen. We shouldn't listen to everything the government says to us. They may be lying just to persuade us to get their vote.

Climate Change (Global Warming)

Our planet is changing drastically. We have all been learning about how these changes are happening. Rising water, disappearing lands, flooding, droughts, and greenhouse gases are all a part of climate change, or global warming. There are many causes of climate change and global warming. All the gas we use for travel (cars, planes etc.) is being sent out into the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide being put out into earth’s atmosphere is causing it to thicken and trap in the heat from the sun. Deforestation is also a problem considering that half of the rainforest's, which are being cut down, provide the world 20% of its oxygen. Without the trees the carbon dioxide can not be turned into oxygen, and will just go out to the earth’s atmosphere as well. Forest fires and mountain pine beetles also have a similar affect, in the sense that they are helping with the loss of trees. Factories are also a big problem, as they are putting out quite a bit of pollution into the atmosphere. Each little thing adds to the thickness of the atmosphere.

Climate change is an important factor of many people’s lives today. Some people believe that climate change is caused from human-related activity, others say it is just a natural cause and there is really nothing we can do to stop it. But how do we know for sure? It could be a natural thing, just being pushed to happen faster by human activity. Whatever the reason, climate change is everywhere, although different places are seeing different effects of it. In the north and south ice sheets are melting due to global warming, this is causing the ocean to rise. With the ocean rising, land close to ocean level will flood. It’s all one big chain, each act linking to another. Closer to the equator, in places like Africa, there have been many droughts. Crops won’t grow without water, and many will die from thirst. There are such differences with these effects. Some places flooding, and some going without water. People need water to survive, with it disappearing; this will be a reason for war. With global warming the ocean will warm up, causing the ocean current to change. This will lead to different patterns in the weather, such as floods and landslides, wiping out towns, killing people, and damaging homes, property, crops and ecosystems.

Different ways of approaching global warming will have different effects. We are still not even sure if it is happening. But what if it is? If we don’t do anything it could be a total disaster. If we do something, it will be worth all of the time and money it will cost us. What if global warming is not an actual issue? So we do nothing, and nothing happens. No benefits and not really any loss. If we do act, and nothing happens it wouldn’t necessarily be a waste, as we would be lowering the emissions and use of fossil fuels and other things helpful to the planet. Personally, I think it would be safer to take action. In case climate change is happening, we are prepared. Of course, there could be no way to stop it, if it was a natural thing. We could stop speeding up the action, if that’s what we are doing. Or we could just go along as we are and eventually fall apart. There are so many different sides to look at. So many things we could do. Taking action to do something seems like the right thing. In any case we should get something out of it, trying to save our planet.