What Would Be The Best Summary For This Essay I Wrote About Climate Change?

World Bank Essay: Climate Change
Climate change used to be a topic I did not think about a few years ago. However, when a series of devastating hurricanes hit our state one after the other in the last few years, I started to think that maybe climate change is a big issue after all. Florida is usually the entry point of hurricanes entering the United States so we are used to foul weather. Usually, the hurricanes are tolerable as long as residents take proper precautions. However, in 2005, when Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma among others, wrecked havoc in Florida and the surrounding states, one cannot help but wonder if the weather had gone crazy. Hurricane season sometimes starts early and ends late. There are too many storms arriving in the country. Then there are days when the weather is too hot when it should be cooler and too cold when it should be getting warmer. I see crops wasting because the rains came too late, and land and beaches getting smaller because the water levels are rising. Some of the changes are subtle like the rising water level. Sometimes it can be sudden like experiencing too many hurricanes that are category 4 and 5.
I recently watched former Vice President Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” (2006) and his presentation caused alarm. Gore showed scientific findings of rising sea levels, disrupted food chains, diminished harvests, droughts and storms (2006). The gardens and nature I admire may soon be gone if the rampant use of the earth’s resources without regard for the future goes unchecked. Because I am young and at the prime of my life, I am afraid by the time I grow older the weather strange characteristics will occur more frequently. I might experience stronger than category 5 hurricanes or perhaps snowstorms in normally-sub tropical Florida.
Unpredictable weather can wreck havoc on the economy. Droughts and flash floods can destroy crops meant for eating. Even if I plan to be in the service industry, bad weather can prevent me and my colleagues from reporting to work. Bad weather halts work and consequently affects productivity. Paraphrased from the World Bank, the current climate change that is mostly causes by human activity is expected to:
-increase climate changes from one end to another of the spectrum and affect agriculture;
-decrease the quantity and quality of potable water for human and agricultural use
-increase the incidence of water-borne diseases like malaria and dengue fever, especially in -
-the tropics and subtropics where many poor countries have overtaxed health services
-harm forests, seas and other ecological systems and diminish their biodiversity, which can
harm the livelihood of people depending on these systems (2008).
Closer to home, unpredictable weather can affect the productivity of organizations like if bad weather keeps their workers away from work. Weather can also ruin buildings and structures. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita may have caused extensive damaged to the South but their devastation increased oil prices and almost crippled telecommunications across the country when they destroyed cables and oil rigs. This shows that damage to one area of the country can cause a ripple effect to other areas. An oil spill in Texas can affect Florida and other states. It can destroy tourism and fishing industries because of the contaminated waters. Air pollution in cities can affect the suburbs as well.
This is why it pays to be involved in addressing the problem of climate change. One person can make a difference, especially when he or she influences as well. One way is to reduce my carbon footprint, which is the amount of energy I consume from the food I eat, transportation mode I use, climate controlled environment I live in (air conditioning or heating) and other activities I may do (Weidmann and Minx, 2008). I can walk instead of using the car. I can encourage my friends to carpool instead of driving our individual cars. I can change from a gas guzzling vehicle to a more fuel efficient one. In the future, I can choose a more energy efficient house design as well.
However, apart from watching how much energy I use daily, I can also recycle. I can also encourage my peers to join me in recycling their belongings. We can also try to reduce our consumption of unnecessary items like buying too many clothes, shoes and other items that we do not use regularly. These items would only be wasted if they were worn only once and discarded. This could even save us money, a welcome practice during this current economic crisis.
Encouraging is difficult if others would not support me. I could join local chapters of environmental groups who share the same beliefs to gain more support and also to help me sustain a “green” lifestyle. We could start by educating young people in my community to start recycling and being aware of their carbon footprint. Al Gore stated that he renewed his goal of educating people worldwide about climate

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