ESL 91
SPRING, 2002
DR. TARA WEISS
GREENHOUSE ESSAYS

Nataliya
Mei
Hai Qiang
Dan
Cesarina


Nataliya Gnatkiv
ESL 91
Spring, 2002
Dr. Tara Weiss

THE YEAR 2050

In spite of the winter the night was bitter hot and still. The old people said they had not seen such a hot winter for forty years. The air was silent. It’s pity because in 2050 it will be eighty years since I am on the Earth. I am not worried than more years we have so happier.

During the last years people had sorrow and suffering. In the result wrong using resource on the planet began greenhouse effect occurred ecological catastrophe. Many politicians and scientists from all over the world had learned about the greenhouse effect. The people made reports and conclusions however they forget about time but time went by. Now people regret of what has happened in the past. As result things eliminate have no meaning for people in 2050.

We remember international environmental organization such as “Green peace”. This organization called attention to the danger to the environment of such action as whaling, air and water pollution, offshore oil drilling, nuclear weapons testing, and the dumpling of radioactive and hazardous wastes. They struggled and they warned about what would happen with the Earth, what would happen with animals and plants on it. They advise of possible destruction.

The future was not set. We invented the future every day. Most people didn’t think about it, but we all made hundreds of small decisions every day. In the morning used too much electricity and too much water. Many people had two cars and smoked. Upon reflection, these things are similar but making cause also. In the past time people thought more about money or their business. They didn’t have time to think about nature or wrong using resource. All of this thing could continue forever. Humans dominated the world, but strong activities on the Earth changed the global environment and destroyed it. Small changes in a particular area or a system coated terrible consequences such us floods and severely altered regional temperatures. People didn’t understand their mistakes. Money, greed and desire ruled on the world. Now people can only dream about a drop of fresh air or a rainbow after rain. Dreams our dreams; it’s all in the past.

When it was begin, I bear in mind hot weather. It was terrible, the forests burned, burned animals and insects. The temperature in the oceans raised, all of the being in water thus was dying. The oceans fill up died bodies, began the decomposition bodies in the water. The water’s circulation was destroyed. The sun only heat sun. Some of the continents became inanimations. When the people understood than they could resist to the catastrophe, they began to build the cupolas over the cities. The problem was with the North and South Poles, we afraid the floods but evaporation was very strong. After the adaptation the people made costumes, and volunteers tried to find any being or plants. We had the sorrow every day, if would you see how the people dug the soil, but it was died. I remember one the situation when my neighbor had seeds of beans. She enplaned the beans, all of the neighbors were happy and it was really holiday for us. In finally plant died because we could pollinate it. In these time we remember how beautiful were butterflies and ladybirds, how woman liked the flowers, and children were happy when go to the zoo. I can’t belief it really was. Presently the people think about it and can’t look their children without shudder. The adaptation period put on the overprint on the faces our children. The nostrils stay is wider and big, it’s because we have failure of the air. The new birthdefects we get now but the people can’t call it a day.

Tonight it’s New Year’s Eve. I am very happy. My daughters are with their families and will come to me. Today we will be celebrating 2050. My recollections are of another time. It was a good time. I have remembered the winter, when trees roofs roads, fields and forests were all covered with thick white snow. There were many stars on the dark sky and the big round moon shone with a blush light. Little birds were in their warm nets, animals slept in the holes. Gray mice hid under the floor. Cats purred softly on the warm stoves. Now my grandchildren can see the animals and the trees only in the museum. Today I will try to explain to my grandchildren what it a pinetree is. The smell of the pinetree I indeed in my memory. It was winter really winter with the snow and the frost. Every year my grandchildren listened stories of another time, when the people had four seasons in the year. Different season, weather than we have now. The weather is hot, the city cover the lids, pollution in the air and the water, any animals or plants. In the atmosphere deficiency of the oxygen, illness children, illness the planet. It’s the picture of our life. I am eighty years old. When I told my story about past time, it’s like fairytailes for my grandchildren. My god, what the people did to the Earth. The six billion people lived on the planet, now we have less than three. It is people’s decisions died the planet.

In 2050, people do not think about themselves, they want to create ones more the balance of nature, but it’s can’t be recreated. The past time not recovery.

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Mei Han
ESL 91
Spring, 2002
Dr. Tara Weiss

2050: Our Future

Where will I be in year 2050? How will people live? Will the world be better than it is today? The earth's climate will affect answer to these questions.

Our future is highly dependent on the earth's climate-the average weather condition over a long time. Our life can be dramatically altered by earth's climate change. Too much rain, for example, will cause floods that wash away people's homes. Too little rain, on the other hand, will bring severe drought conditions that kill crops. Natural greenhouse effect regulates earth's climate, which affects rainfall, by preventing earth's atmosphere from absorbing too much heat. But human activities disrupt that effect and lead to global warming. If we don't do something to protect the environment now we will face shortage of food, water and other life-sustaining resources in the future. Human beings will be difficult to live on earth in year 2050.

According to a U.S Environmental protection Agency report, in the eighteenth century the Industrial Revolution in Europe brought new technology that propelled the society forward, but at the same time it has continued to destroy the natural greenhouse effect, which regulates earth's climate. Before the Industrial Revolution, the carbon dioxide concentration was about 280-90 part per million; in 1990, it was about 340 part per million. In other words, the amount of greenhouse gas in earth's atmosphere has been increasing. Over the past 100 years, the global average near-surface temperature has increased by about 0.5 degree centigrade. (Ming, K. July 1999) That's because greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide trap more heat from sunlight in our atmosphere. As a result, scientists predict earth's average temperature will increase one degree centigrade by 2030. By 2100 it will increase three degree centigrade and the speed of warming is moving faster.

If we continue to release billions of tons of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, I imagine in the year 2050 we will bear heat waves and periods of unusually warm weather. Heat will melt arctic icecaps so the sea level will rise and coastal flooding will occur. Some land will disappear into the ocean. We will lack drinking water because rivers will be lost along with land. Weather changes will lead to severe conditions like heavy snowfalls, droughts, and forest fires. It will also spread diseases and directly threaten the living environment of human being. Thus, the problem is not only for the government or a few environmental protection organizations. It is everyone's problem.

If we continue to mine coal, to recover petroleum and use up other natural resources, what will we leave to our future generations? Besides, these activities will increase the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and cause global warming. We should stop global warming which seriously alters the earth's atmosphere. James Hansen, at the Greenhouse Researcher, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, says: " It is time to stop waffling so much and say that the evidence is pretty strong that the greenhouse effect is here." We should realize that the threat is so serious that we cannot delay acting. Everyone should try his best to protect our earth.

How can we do it? Since industry is a major source of heat-trapping gases, industrial countries should reduce discharge of industrial gases. We should try to use solar energy or wind energy instead of using fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and other resources. People should know how to protect the environment against pollution. Planting trees will absorb carbon dioxide in the earth's atmosphere. Recycling newspapers, plastics, glass, and metals are also good ways to protect our environment. We should educate everyone about environmental protection. In our daily life, we should pay attention to save electric energy, drinking water, and gases.

Mother earth is our home. We are responsible for healing our earth. If everyone is conscientious about environmental protection, we can live in a comfortable and clean environment in 2050. If you are still not convinced that protecting the environment is important, let me remind you that dinosaurs lived on earth for millions of years before going into extinction because of drastic climate changes. If we don't clean up our acts we will dig our own grave. We may be extinct, too, this time not by natural disaster but by our own choice. Where will I be in 2050? Anywhere on earth if the environment is protected.  

Works Cited

Ming, K. (July 1999) Greenhouse Effect. Chemism-the Online Chemistry Magazine. Retrived May 1, 2002 from the World Wide Web: http://home.school.net.hk/~chemmag/issue6/ming-k/greenhouseeffect.html

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Hai Qiang Chen
ESL 91
Spring, 2002
Dr. Tara Weiss

The World In 2050

I am scared to imagine how terrible life may be for human beings in 2050. The greenhouse effect influences global warming and ozone depletion. It causes terrible situation for human lives and the situation will continue in the future.

Machine-made products are created by modern technologies, such as are cars and airplanes and they provide a better life for people. In contrast, the products also destroy our lives. Chlorofluorocarbons called CFCs for short, are the guilty chemical pollutants use in aerosol cans, refrigerators, some air conditioning systems, and some packaging materials. When the CFCs are released from them into the atmosphere, it can destroy the ozone layer, which protects the earth. If the ozone layer disappears, the ultraviolet radiation, which is from the sun, can be sent to the earth directly and destroys all living things in the world.

Ultraviolet radiation is the major problem for all the lives in the world. For humans, it can cause people to have skin cancer and eye diseases. For marine life, it can cause them to die. For nature, it causes global warming. According to the U.S. satellite Nimbus-7 quickly confirmed the result "CFCs destroys the ozone hole that forms over Antarctica each October has spread around the world. The ozone hole can be as big as 1.5times larger then the United States."(www.solcomhouse.com/OzoneHole.htm) To solve this pollution situation, there is humans' responsibility. If we don't take action to solve the problem of the world, the ozone hole will get bigger and bigger. The earth will receive a lot of ultraviolet radiation and it will have some shocking problems.

First, ultraviolet rays will create high temperatures in the daytime. When the hot temperature rises much higher than today during the time in 2050, ice in Antarctica will melt down. Water will flood on huge parts of land in the world. People will suffer. For example, the water will flood the land in the world and also force people to live in the high mountains. Unfortunately, human population is too large. Therefore the mountains are not enough to occupy all the human population. Some will have to cut trees to build boats and they will live on boats in the ocean. When the deforestation will become large, people will get sick and die easily because they don't have enough oxygen to survive. Human beings will die.

Also when the high temperature rises, it will change human life style. For instance, hot temperature will be over 130 degrees within the years 2050; it will be impossible for people to survive during the daytime. If the people will burn by the sunlight, they will get a lot of diseases that include eye diseases and serious skin cancer. People will begin to sleep at the daytime and go out and work at the nighttime.

Next, ultraviolet radiation affects marine life. According to the NASA's Ames Research center " the effect of ultraviolet on marine life, particularly affects the microscopic algae called phytoplankton." When the ocean receives a lot of the ultraviolet radiation, it will affect phytoplankton and they will die. The phytoplankton will die; it will influence the entire ocean to become dead. For example, the phytoplankton is eaten by krill. When krill's food is gone, krill will die because they lose food. Same as the others, some bigger fish's food is krill. If the krill will die, they will also die because they won't have food. All relationship of the earth lives connects together actually. If the ocean is dead, human cannot survive as well because humans get much food is from the ocean.

The earth is our home. If everyone considers the environment of the world pollution and takes action to solve it, we will live our lives more healthfully and the world will become beautiful. Otherwise the world in 2050, the temperature will increase extremely high that forces people to live in the mountains and they will change the life style. Oceans will die and food supply will become less. All the living things on the earth will suffer. We must start now to take action before it is too late.

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Dan Li
ESL 91
Spring, 2002
Dr. Tara Weiss

The Year 2050

The world will be going back to the past. There will be no more factories, transportation, and food supplies in the world. People will live the same as an ancient times or worse. People will live without the cars then walk to work, and without the refrigerators, people will eat the stale food then people will easy die by sickness. The Earth will become an unsafe place to live. The animals will come out from the zoo and forest against the human beings. As an ancient, they need to live on the earth by fighting each other to exist. A proverb says that, "The winner live and the loser die."

In the year 2002, the inhabitants of this earth are the human beings who have destroyed the earth plants. People kept cutting the trees to build the houses and did not plant more trees to rejuvenate the earth. Then as many years later, people will have no woods to use for building house and making papers. If people don’t avoid the destruction of tropical forests, then in the future, the earth has not energy oxygen to support all lives on earth. All inhabitants will die without the oxygen. The plants are a part of the earth because they can supply the oxygen for all lives.

Additional, people have wasted too many resources such as water, food, and paper. People didn’t care too much about recycling and the chemical pollution that affected the earth’s natural cycle. People invented lots of things such as cars, air conditioners, and refrigerators. All technology pollutions have affected the natural atmosphere. For example, when a car is moving on the road fossil fuels are emitted. The air conditioner has absorbed the cold air from the earth, and emitted tad the heat. So, the weather of earth becomes hot.

The temperature of earth has increased. The earth will become a terrible place to live, for all living lives. After the rising global temperature, sea level temperatures would rise dramatically, and change precipitation and other local climate conditions. The polar caps have melted by higher temperature. The earth will have cause massive flooding and subsequent destruction of all cities. People will need to live in higher mountain. There the great animals will attack the human beings.

The scientists had known that ozone layer has a lot of holes on that a long time ago. The ozone layer is an umbrella of gas that is against the CO2. The ozone layer helps to product the earth from the dangerous radiation that the sun produces. In the way, the scientists have tried to fix the problems for the earth. But it is not an easy thing to do. If the earth has no the ozone layer, then the dangerous radiation from the sun, it affects human’s health. The people on the earth may have in skin cancer and in eye diseases such as cataracts. Those happen because the sun’s ray is too intense to the earth. It could burn the people’s bodies and it is not just harmful to human beings; it is harmful to all lives on earth. Then in the torrid zone of earth, the people will die early because the hot weather may cause people’s heart attack. The people will die by the bad heart.

All of those problems on earth will happen in the future the year 2050, then the world will die. That is not easy to imagine what kind the earth will become like. As the same as the ancient time that people lived without any technology, the life would become so boring and everything would come slow down. The people will have to walk to work, school, and everywhere. Then the world will not develop.

Consequences of all points, on this earth everything is connected to each other. It means people have invented one thing, and on other side, people may has something lose or affect to that. People must save the resources. People must know to protect our world and prevent that bad things happen. Otherwise, by the year 2050 people will struggle for survival.

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Cesarina Cordero
ESL 91
Spring 2002
Dr. Tara Weiss

How the Greenhouse Effect is Destroying our Planet

Nature is the paradise that has been created for all living creatures that live on the planet Earth. Natural resources as the tropical forests, oceans and different animal species are part of nature. Therefore, it is our responsibility to preserve nature as well as we can. In the past, life was simpler and people did not have all the technology available to them as we do now. In some ways this was good as there was less pollution produced. In other ways this was bad because technology makes living easier. In the past, people used the natural resources to perform daily activities such as the use of animals for transportation and fire for heat and light. I feel that in the past people were more concerned about the environment. In my opinion, if we do not control the global warming problem within the upcoming years, by 2050 life will be very difficult because of the climate changes that will occur.

The technology of computers, cars, airplanes, TV and refrigerators has given us a comfortable life. But everything about technology is not positive; it also brings up many negative things as the Greenhouse Effect, global warming has over our planet, destruction of the tropical rain forest and the disappearance of species.

All these technological advances could have many consequences in the future. The destruction of the ozone layer and global warming caused by the greenhouse effect is one of these many consequences. Everyday this goes on the climate is changing and getting warmer due to the trapped gases in the atmosphere.

If the world keeps going as it is, life in the year 2050 will be very difficult for all living creatures of the earth because the greenhouse effect will have destroyed the ozone layer which protects earth from harmful radiation from the sun. If governments and people throughout the world do not find a solution to this problem our planet will be destroyed. Solutions to this problem might include the ending of the burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of the rain forest.

Every year that passes, the earth is losing all of her natural beauty and resources. Plants are dying, rivers are getting dry, animals are disappearing and the earth is getting warmer and warmer. In 2050 the earth may be in big trouble if people don’t get enough education about how important it is that they stop doing things that contribute to the destruction of the planet. The Greenhouse Effect is a critical problem that must be resolved in the future and in the present.

The earth is the only planet that humans are adapted to live on; therefore, it is important that all nations organize programs worldwide to educate their citizens about the greenhouse effect.

All creatures of this planet need proper climate and temperature conditions to support their lives. If it is too hot or too cold many species will not survive. It makes possible that all species of the earth have an adequate temperature to perform their activities. Plants need a good climate to grow.

Moderate climate is necessary for all habitants of the earth. If the use of fossil fuels continues or increases, their use and the destruction of the rain forest the future of our planet will be desolate. The temperature could be very high in the year 2050 and people on the earth will have a more difficult time surviving.

It is very important that the use of harmful chemicals as gasoline, oil and gases decrease because if they don’t, air pollution and high temperatures will continue the condition of the earth will become worse. The living condition of people will be very difficult because the world wouldn’t have the necessary comfort that they need anymore to live a good life. People will suffer because all the natural resources of the earth which include water, plants, minerals and animals will have been destroyed by these toxic gases. There will also be many more diseases occurring. Cancer and bacteriological virus will become more common because all the earth will be contaminated with dangerous chemical materials as gases and CFCs, which cause air pollution that people absorb from the air.

Everyday the temperature will change, more people will die younger, animal species will disappear and vegetation will not grow up. People won’t have enough nutrition to survive because all the earth will be dry, contaminated and too hot to farm. They also won’t stay outside long because the sun will be very hot and the air infected with these chemicals and the gas pollution that comes from cars, factories and airplanes.

If the technological uses of fossil fuels, which are used in cars, factories and airplanes, are not under control in 2050, all the nations of the world will look like dirty deserts. The natural beautification will be destroyed with all these chemicals. The diseases such as skin cancer, pulmonary cancer and bacteriological virus will increase their case amounts.

All the nations will be as if an atomic bomb was exploded on all the humanity and other species of the earth. The greenhouse effect and air pollution are destroying the atmosphere cap and the ozone layer. Ultra violet radiation of the sun will rise up over the earth planet with more power.

Life in 2050 could be so hard for all inhabitants of this planet because the hot temperatures will increase which will be more difficult for all of them to live with. The climate would be undecontrolate, The temperatures will be higher, the rivers and oceans contaminated with toxic gases and air pollution, the rainfall will be less and the tropical forest will be exterminated.

All these problems are caused by the human activities of burning fossil fuels as gasoline, and other gases, using aerosol cans for refrigerators and air conditioning systems. These chemicals increase air pollution and cause the greenhouse effect. All these things are happening currently but if it’s not under control by 2050 the human and other creatures that live on this planet won’t be able to survive.

The Greenhouse Effect is an important issue that the whole world should take care of, because in reality it is a serious problem that could destroy the Earth. It is necessary that the governments and citizens of the world spend more time in creating specific solutions to resolve this Greenhouse Effect problem. The future of the planet Earth must be a common feeling that all the living creatures should have because we all are sharing the same world.

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