The environment

PROBLEM:

The global warming is now one of the most important problems in the EU, as its effects can cause an increase of the temperatures, which will provoke the thawing of the glaciers. In consequence, the level of the sea will grow more and more every year until causing an overflowing disaster.

Also, one of the consequences it might have is the raise of the pollution, which is caused by the amount of gases that come from the transports, chemical substances and many others.

The results of this pollution could be problems in the human system, having more difficulties when breathing, and contamination of the water, which is one of the reasons why many people with no recourses die nowadays. Besides from this, it will cause other bad effects in the nature and so on.

What can the EU do to eradicate the climate change?

• To start with, the first proposal is to start eradicating the climate change by using more public transports or walking to places instead of driving private cars, motorbikes or any other kind of private transports. To motivate people, from the Parliament they could try to organize one day per month in which all the public transports are free. This way, people will use them more.
• Additionaly, another good idea is to encourage kids and teens from schools to visit the paper industry at least once a year, so they can recognize the consequences of not recycling paper and try to value more the different uses it can have once recycled.
• Recycling batteries is something not many people do, but they should do it, as its results would be better for the environment. The materials used to create them are too contaminating, and to avoid the problems and encourage people to recycle more, in supermarkets or shops where they are sold they could make an exchange, for example: every 10 batteries, two of them are given free.
• These proposals could be good so that people care more about the environment and the global warming, as well as the consequences it is having, like the increase of the temperature, and the climate change.

Climate change

THE CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change is one of the problems which nowadays most affect many countries in Europe.

The European Commission has taken many climate-related initiatives since 1991, when the first Community strategy to limit carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and improve energy efficiency issued.

The effects that the global warming is having around the world are thetemperatures, which are increasing more and more every year, glaciers and snow are melting, and the sea level is also rising. This and many other facts are some of the consequences that the global warming has, and this comes from the climate change and the pollution. 

Who is the responsible of the global warming?

Many human activities such as logging trees influence the exchange of greenhouse gases with the atmosphere. Clearing forests also releases large amounts of CO2. On top of that, plants and trees use CO2 to grow. Worldwide deforestation means we don't have as many trees to absorb the extra CO2. Therefore, more CO2 stays in the atmosphere, producing and tapping more heat and making the global warming increase. Transports are also responsible for around a quarter of EU's greenhouse gas emissions making it the second biggest greenhouse gas emitting sector after energy. While emissions from other sectors are generally falling, those from transport have increased 36% since 1990.

 What is the EU doing about climate change?

Preventing dangerous climate change is one of the main priorities for the European Union. Europe is working hard to cut its greenhouse gas emissions, and also encouraging other nations and regions to do the same.

Solutions to global warming pursued by the European region include binding national commitments to reduce emissions, the multi-national cap-and-trade program known as the European Union's Emission Trading Scheme, and strong supports for its renewable energy and energy efficiency industries.

What do teenagers like us can do to protect the atmosphere?

As many people advise kids and teenagers to do, recycling is one of the things that we can do in the schools with paper and also at home with the trash, and it is an activity that people of all ages can do. Additionally, catching the bus or walking to school instead of going by car is an advantage that all kids and teens can do, as well as their parents. Many of these solutions, if done correctly, can help to maintain the level of pollution and stop letting it increase.