EF Speech

 What global issue are you most passionate about solving?

Greetings, my name is Juliana Restrepo, I am a ninth grader from the American School of Barranquilla, Colombia.

Today, with this speech I’d like to present the global issue I am most passionate about solving.

There’s a lot of global issues as of today: Social, economical, and environmental, among others; however, I would like to focus on environmental issues, more specifically, climate change and human’s role in it.

Let’s begin with something easy, I want you to close your eyes and look back. So, go back around 5 or 6 years ago, you decide. How did the sky look like? How did the streets look like? Can you remember the color of the grass, the parks, the trees and the birds flying around making their beautiful chirping noises? Everything was clean, green, colorful and full of hope and life. 

Now, open your eyes and what do you see? I personally look out and see sadness, shades of grey and disappointment. Where are those beautiful flowers outside my window? Where are those adorable animals, birds, butterflies? Why is everything surrounded with buildings and grey picket fences?

Where did life go?

Let me tell you where it went.

The planet is warming, from North Pole to South Pole. Since 1906, the global average surface temperature has increased by more than 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius)—even more in sensitive polar regions. And the impacts of rising temperatures aren’t waiting for some far-flung future. The effects of global warming are appearing right now. The heat is melting glaciers and sea ice, shifting precipitation patterns, and setting animals on the move.

Many people think of global warming and climate change as synonyms, but scientists prefer to use “climate change” when describing the complex shifts now affecting our planet’s weather and climate systems. Climate change encompasses not only rising average temperatures but also extreme weather events, shifting wildlife populations and habitats, rising seas, and a range of other impacts. All of these changes are emerging as humans continue to add heat-trapping greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

Ice is melting worldwide, especially at the Earth’s poles. This

includes mountain glaciers, ice sheet covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea ice. In Montana's Glacier National Park the number of glaciers has declined to fewer than 30 from more than 150 in 1910.

Much of this melting ice contributes to sea-level rise. Global sea levels are rising 0.13 inches a year, and the rise is occurring at a faster rate in recent years.

Rising temperatures are affecting wildlife and their habitats. Vanishing ice has challenged species such as the Adélie penguin in Antarctica, where some populations on the western peninsula have collapsed by 90% or more.

As temperatures change, many species are on the move. Some butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants have migrated farther north or to higher, cooler areas.

Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased across the globe, on average. Yet some regions are experiencing more severe drought, increasing the risk of wildfires, lost crops, and drinking water shortages.

Some species—including mosquitoes, ticks, jellyfish, and crop pests—are thriving. Booming populations of bark beetles that feed on spruce and pine trees; for example, have devastated millions of forested acres in the U.S.

After listening to all of this, don’t you think our planet is in danger? Our whole well being is in danger, and not only ours but our loved ones’, the wild life’s as well.

So before saying climate change is not a thing, close your eyes and look back…

“Twenty five years ago people could be excused for not knowing much, or doing much about climate change. Today we have no excuse”

-Desmond Tutu.

By Juliana Restrepo, Step 9