Global warming…carbon footprints…greenhouse gases… Lately in the news, these few statements seem to be the new hot button issues. Some think climate change isn’t a real thing; they think it’s pulp fiction that scientists made up to scare people. 

The truth, though, is that climate change is a real thing. We have to start watching the carbon footprint we’re leaving behind before there is no longer a habitable world to live in. 

Scientists say that ever since the first ice age, the earth has always gone through some form of global warming. According to an article from NASA, Global Climate Change, “The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is extremely likely (greater than 95 percent probability) to be the result of human activity since the mid-20th century and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented over decades to millennia.” This means that because of human carelessness and our prior lack of knowledge, we have been speeding up the rate at which the earth is warming. 

The NASA article also stated that the world has gotten warmer due to increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions. The majority of the global warming has happened in the past 35 years, and since 2010 we have experienced the world’s warmest years. In 2016, eight out of the twelve months were recorded as the warmest temperatures for those specific months. 

One way of reducing climate change is to install solar panels. The Felician Sisters have already taken the first step in going green by installing solar panels. Solar panels use the sun’s energy as renewable energy which takes the place of fossil fuels, ultimately lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Another key fact about solar panels is that solar energy is one of the few renewable energy sources implemented in cities, or in this case the school, on a large scale. The Sisters obviously knew that climate change is a major problem, and knew that they had to leave the world a better place than when they were born. 

Sources:

“Climate Change Evidence: How Do We Know?” NASA, NASA, 30 Sept. 2019, 

climate.nasa.gov/evidence/.

Masson, et al. “Solar Panels Reduce Both Global Warming and Urban Heat Island.” 

Frontiers, Frontiers, 29 Apr. 2014, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2014.00014/full.