Grade 9

Climate Change Solution Fluency

Define:

Climate change is one of the main problems facing our generation right now. Rising sea levels, increasing temperatures, and extreme weather patterns are threatening our ecosystems and homes. However, us humans are the main cause of this problem. What can we do to change this before it’s too late?

Discover:

Canada has done many things to tackle the problems that climate change brings us, such as launching the Clean Air Act in 2006, which focused on removing emissions from cars and trucks by finding new, fuel efficient ways of transportation. This helped to remove greenhouse gases from the environment, and it was successful in reducing our carbon footprint as well. Now, in 2020,  Canada has goals to reduce our gas and methane emissions, investing money into creating new, efficient ways of transportation, and using renewable energy sources as much as possible.

Dream:

Some ways for us to take action against climate change:

  1. Use different modes of transportation that don’t emit gases (bicycles, scooters, etc.)
  2. Stop using single use plastics
  3. Reduce the amount of meat and dairy that you consume, and opt for vegetarian meals instead
  4. Educate others on the importance of reducing their carbon footprints
  5. Reduce your water waste
  6. Help plant more trees
  7. Use renewable energy sources as much as possible

Deliver:

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Debrief:

I was able to learn new concepts about climate change and see what people are doing around the world to reduce their carbon footprints. I could improve this post by adding more detail to my Deliver, and more information on how you can reduce your water usage. The things I did well on this post were that I was able to add a lot of detail on the Discover part, by showing you what specific steps Canada was taking to prevent climate change.

Sources:

 

Define –

https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/climate-change/

Discover –

https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/climate-change/

Dream –

https://en.reset.org/act/12-things-you-can-do-climate-change-0

https://www.mfe.govt.nz/climate-change/we-all-have-role-play/what-you-can-do-about-climate-change

Self Assessment:

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Climate Change in Canada – The Territories

climate change drawing.heic

 

Causes and Effects of Climate Change in the Northern Territories

 

The Northern Territories of Canada are heavily affected by climate change. Climate change in the North is mainly caused by the burning of fossil fuels, which releases greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are a big problem, because the more greenhouse gases that get released into the atmosphere, they get caught there, and cause the planet to get warmer. In the Northern Territories, the temperature has risen 0.74 degrees Celsius, but has gone up to 2 degrees Celsius.

Due to the increased temperature, ice in the oceans have started to melt, which is causing ocean levels to rise, and warm as well. Rising ocean levels can lead to flash floods, which would devastate communities, and warming ocean temperatures could lead to some endangered animals going extinct. Another effect of climate change would be extreme weather patterns, such as flooding, an increase in rain, and overheating. These would heavily affect the population living in this area, and all the wildlife and nature living in the North as well.

These seem like horrible consequences, so what are the people living here doing to try and curb the effects of climate change? The Government of Nunavut is trying to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by using alternate forms of energy that isn’t fossil fuels, such as solar and wind. In the Northwest Territories, they are investing more time and money into trying to find new and innovative ways to control their greenhouse gas emissions as well.

 

 

Sources:

 

https://www.enr.gov.nt.ca/sites/enr/files/reports/nwt_climate_change_impacts_and_adaptation_report.pdf

https://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/nun_201803_e_42874.html

https://www.enr.gov.nt.ca/sites/enr/files/ccsf_ghg_emissions_factsheet.pdf

 

Consumable Waste

Food. We eat and prepare food everyday, but have you ever thought about the packaging that it comes in? For example, a lot of vegetables and fruits are packaged in some sort of plastic or cardboard, even when it’s not necessary for there to be packaging on it. Light snacks such as chips, cookies, and candy almost always come in plastic packaging. Meats like chicken, fish, and beef come in styrofoam and plastic packaging as well. You might not think too much about the packaging after you’ve eaten and thrown it away, but even the smallest things can have a large effect. 

Single use plastics, such as wrappers on candy, takes about 1,000 years to decompose. Cardboard takes only 2 months compared to that, but styrofoam, a widely used packaging item, isn’t biodegradable at all. However, for the consumers, these types of packaging are very convenient, because all they need to do is take it off and throw it out. And that’s not all, because even food itself is wasted, not just the packaging. food waste is a significant part of the waste that we produce, and a lot of people don’t think about throwing out food most of the time. The environmental impact is quite devastating, and the longer the waste takes to decompose, the more it will add to pollution and the overall health of the Earth. That’s why we should be mindful about what we use and throw away. But what can we do about this? 

There are many things we can do to help the environment and reduce our waste, such as recycling/composting. recycling your plastic containers, aluminum cans, milk cartons, etc. all play a big part in helping the environment. Composting your food waste is also extremely important, because, as I mentioned earlier, food waste is a significant part of all waste that we create. Composting will make sure that the food biodegrades and gives back to the earth. Lastly, the best thing to do is to refrain from using single use products, such as plastic bags and soft plastics.