Climate change refers to the long-term weather impacts of dangerous human activities, such as burning fossil fuels. These long term impacts can be shown through extreme weather changes and strange patterns, and the effects of this change are even worse. Even with its extreme consequences on society, climate change is a topic somewhat ignored by many. 

Warmer temperatures is one significant effect of climate change that is most well known. In places like Texas, where it is usually always warm, this change may be unnoticable. Not only will temperatures dramtically change, so will Texas’ water supply. The increase in heavy storms and changing climate will make water less available as a whole. As hotter temperatures increase evaporation and water usage by plants, soils will become drier. The drier soils become, the more water is needed for crops. All in all, the effects of climate change are bigger than a lot of people believe. Environmental club president, Maggie Le, notices that the main warning sign of climate change is the abnormally high temperatures. 

“Well, honestly, I feel like especially with our generation, we can tell like, how the temperature is changing. There are so many more storms, droughts, and just really crazy weather changes. Especially in Texas, usually, it’s hot, but now it’s getting even more hot. And honestly, the water quality is a lot worse. Like honestly Texas is a precarious water situation right now, and we’re running low on water because of climate change,” said Le. 

The Greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane, released into the atmosphere are some of the main contributors to climate change. These gases are released into the atmosphere through driving or burning coal for heat. Environmental club member, Jada Sails, notices how this increased usage of gases affects society.

“There are a lot of negative effects of climate change, obviously, but some that would generally affect our student population is the increase of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere, that comes from cars and carbon dioxide. But other than that, it just makes our future difficult to live in. Like our wildlife goes down, since biodiversity decreases, and there could be less pretty places to vacation in,” said Sails.

Although climate change may appear to be a problem out of one person’s reach, that is not the case. Any person can contribute to ending global warming. Turning off lights, using more public transportation, and other similar actions may seem small but are very effective in the long run. Le believes that recycling, saving food and planting can all support ending global warming.

“There’s a lot of food waste. So I feel like students should try to finish their lunch even if it isn’t like best or just not get food that they know they won’t eat. And they should also start recycling. We don’t have a recycling program, but we’re still working on it. Hopefully, that will start by the end of the school year. I think we should start growing more plants. Right now we’ve been trying to grow plants outside, but the only areas we can grow plants are in the back, but we have more space in the front,” stated Le.

Junior, Neva Khan, does everything she can, such as carpooling, to help reduce her carbon footprint.

“I have done what I can in my everyday life. I carpool at any time possible, to help reduce my carbon footprint. I also make sure to limit the amount of electricity I use on an everyday basis by mainly using sunlight during the day and limited lights in the evenings. I also recycle and compost any materials I can. The administration can help by ensuring that a working recycling system is effective at our school. In one day alone, we produce an unnecessary amount of waste. We can easily set up a recycling system to counteract such wastes,” said Khan.

Advocating for climate change can be hard for even the most dedicated activists. Even in this day and age, with all the new science and research coming out, there are still plenty of climate change deniers. Staying motivated and determined in one’s activism can be a struggle, but focusing on the future tends to help. Sails believes that what motivated her in creating a livable world for future generations. 

 “I feel like because we’re in a first world country, we don’t see a lot of the effects of climate change, but around the world for a lot of people, plants, and animals, climate change really takes away livelihood. And I think that if we’re trying to go forward as a world things have to change. Even if it’s in the little thing that we can do ourselves that can help contribute to that change. I feel like any action is better than no action. I want to keep advocating for it, and keep doing things myself so that our world can be livable for generations to come,” said Sails.

The passion of her fellow members is what motivates Le to continue her work as president of the environmental club, as well as her own activism. 

“Honestly, the people in the club are so passionate about it. I myself already am a big advocate for sustainability, but with club members they just contribute a lot and they seem like they care about it. Being surrounded by those kinds of people just makes me more motivated to keep forward,” stated Le.