For centuries America has relied on the likes of fossil fuels to power everyday processes like cars, electricity, power grids, etc. But what many people don’t realize are the long term effects of burning these fuels. When you burn fossil fuel greenhouse gases are produced as a byproduct. Greenhouse gases only make up a fraction of our atmosphere, but for good reason. When sunlight reaches earth it is first absorbed by the surface. Then in the form of infrared radiation it is released from the surface and into the atmosphere. The mixture of gases in our atmosphere help to ensure that some of that radiation is absorbed and put back on earth, while also releasing some back into space. When us humans produce greenhouse gases from fossil fuels, the atmosphere absorbs more of the radiation, which means less heat leaving our planet.

Now, I know many people who disown the evidence of global warming, are obviously either really old or really dumb. Because it’s not just astronomical data that supports global warming it’s physical data right here on earth. Thousands of islanders in the pacific are facing devastating storms that are being caused by the warming of our planet. And on top of natural disasters our oceans are rising. NASA has recorded the current rate of increase as 3.3 millimeters a year.

This graph is showing the Global Temperature Anomaly from 1850-2017. The Global temperature anomaly is how much the average temperature of the globe changes, meaning a negative GTA indicates cooling, and a positive GTA indicates warming. So, according to this graph global temperature has increased about 1 degree Celsius from 1940. Whats even more alarming is another graph which couples the first graph.

As depicted by both graphs, there was an exponential increase in the data. For the first graph, we saw global temperature. During practically the same time span a second graph was produced, which shows how carbon emissions also grew exponentially over the years. These graphs lead us to believe that Carbon emissions are the main source of our problems.

Looking back at the first graph we said that the temperature anomaly is around 1 degree Celsius. According to Sky News, disastrous outcomes will occur if that number reaches 3-4 degrees.

“Millions of people will begin to flee coastal areas, cities will begin to vanish and some will become islands.

The ice at both poles will vanish and this could see a rise in sea levels of as much as 50m, although this may take hundreds or thousands of years.

China, a major producer of the world’s rice, wheat and maize, could see its agriculture fail – it will need to feed more than a billion people on two-thirds of its current harvest.”

Sky News

This all will happen to our earth if global temperature increases only 3-4 degrees. This wouldn’t seem so bad if we weren’t already exponentially increasing the global temperature. As a 14 year old what concerns me the most is the fact that big name oil companies don’t give a damn what happens in 50 years, because they won’t be alive by then! While, this information may be startling to many, there is still hope for us teenagers.

We might not be able to invent cheap renewable energy. But, we can definitely make a difference in our community.

Recently, I attended the first east coast YAE (Youth Action for Earth) training. The training was open to everyone from 4th-12th grade. Basically YAE was created to inform young kids, and guide older kids to a brighter future for our planet. We all practiced public speaking skills and learning about the very problems I was clarifying in this post. I greatly recommend these type of activities for people who want to make a diffrence in their society, and want to know what they can do to help with climate change.

So, if you are reading this blog post go out with a bunch of friends and see how you can better our planet. For example, you can go on a tree planting spree, or clean up beaches, or even attend climate change protests. Because our actions as teenagers are defining generations to come, and these type of activities inspire the older generations into action.

https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data

https://environment-review.yale.edu/too-little-too-late-carbon-emissions-and-point-no-return

https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement

https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2865/a-degree-of-concern-why-global-temperatures-matter/

http://berkeleyearth.org/global-temperatures-2017/

https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/sea-level/

Ionic thrusters and technology of the sort have often been associated within the writings of science fiction. But, thanks to scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, this has been made possible. An ion, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is: “An atom or group of atoms that carries a positive or negative electric charge as a result of having lost or gained one or more electrons.” With those words we can assume that a positive and negative ion work along the same lines as magnets, the positive ions will attract negative ions and vice versa.

The thruster operates by ionizing gases/propellant, making the gas atoms lose/gain electrons to give them a charge. Currently, NASA is ionizing these gases by sending high energy particles directly at the gas which knocks off an electron from the atom thus giving it a positive charge. In the future, NASA will implement the Annular Engine into their designs. According to NASA in early 2016, ”  It uses a new thruster design that yields a total (annular) beam area that is 2 times greater than that of NEXT.”

So, within the span of 5-10 years the basis of spacecraft propulsion will be changed forever. First with the NEXT (NASA Evolutionary Xenon Thruster), then later with the Annular Engine. These contributions to NASA’s space tech arsenal should help NASA with their primary objectives in the new decade such as a manned mission to Mars, sending satellites/probes into deep space, examining bio-friendly exoplanets, etc.

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/fs21grc.html

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/technology/Ion_Propulsion1.html