Introduction: Why should we be talking about climate change? It doesn’t affect us, right? Well, it does. We are seeing more natural disasters occurring, like droughts that are negatively affecting our food products and floods that are spreading diseases and damaging our ecosystems. In this speech, I’ll first be talking about the climate issue, then the leaders who are speaking up about it, and lastly, different ways you can help.

Climate Change: Our earth has been warming up to the point where it is negatively impacting every living creature, from our oceans to the atmosphere. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere has been increasing and last year set a new high record, 414.72 parts per million, which is not good. The increased concentration is being caused by people around the world who are using fossil fuels for energy. According to the Natural Resource Defense Council, “Americans, on average, produce 21 tons of carbon per year,” which is about four times more than the global average. Gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide have thickened the “blanket” in the atmosphere, causing temperatures to rise. These temperatures have also caused the sea level to rise, roughly 8 inches over the past century, and are expected to double at the rate we are going. With the oceans expanding and needing more space, it is creating natural disasters such as floods and tsunamis.

Leaders of Climate Change: In this next part, I’ll be talking about some people you may know who are taking action. Mark Ruffalo, also known as the Hulk, is an activist and a renewable energy advocate. He has been using his platform to encourage people to switch to solar energy. He is also the co-founder of “The Solutions Project,” which promotes clean energy and fights against climate issues, he is also the founder of “Water Defense,” an activist group that is working on getting hydraulic fracturing in New York and Colorado banned. Another recognizable activist is Greta Thunberg. She is considered to be the voice of the youths who are and will be facing the climate crisis because of the political parties who failed to mitigate climate change. She was nominated for the Noble Peace Prize in 2019 and was Times Person of the year in 2019 as well. Apart from her protests, she has donated 1 million Euro to climate charities.

How to Help: There are many things you can do to help limit climate change. It’s simple as reducing water waste, you can do this by taking shorter showers, and turning off the foist when you brush your teeth. Another way you can help is by eating the food you buy from the grocery store and recycling leftovers in a compost bin. Recycling leftovers reduces 300 kilograms of CO2 per year, it can also help improve soil health, which is great for your plants or gardens, and helps reduce droughts, which we’ve been experiencing in Nebraska as well as all over the world.

Conclusion: Another way to help is by speaking up, tell friends and family, post it on social media, anything will do if it makes a difference. “Change only happens when individuals take action. There’s no other way if it doesn’t start with people” (Aliya Haq, 2022). If we don’t take action now, the consequences can be severe. Do you really want to live in a world where all wildlife is extinct? Where air pollution become so normal and natural that you can easily get respiratory diseases, just by stepping outside? Climate change is impacting all of us, but we can help by doing some of the simplest things to save the Earth, for us, the wildlife, and future generations.