A bit of hope

Before I launch into a series of blogs about Kyoto and our week with our first visitor, I want to share something special with you. The following was written by a bright, energetic second grade boy that I tutor here in Tokyo named Leonard. He constantly amazes me and has been learning English very quickly although he is currently in a German school here in Tokyo.

Not only does this research report show his own growth over the course of our time learning together, but it also gives me plenty of hope that this young generation sees the world with new eyes and will help solve some of our biggest problems. Out of a list of about 20 topics he was interested in learning about, he chose to research and then report back on climate change and our role in helping the earth. Please read his writing below! He typed it himself and reads this blog occasionally, so I'm sure he would love to hear your thoughts about his writing and his suggestions for helping our world (through the comment link below)!

Thanks for reading.

Global Warming
By Leonard Musahl
Tokyo, April 2009

There are two big problems in our world right now. The first big problem is pollution. The second problem is the Greenhouse Effect. A lot of people think that everything is okay with our world, but other people think there is too much pollution on the Earth.

Pollution is a big problem for the environment. Pollution is when people give used, dirty things back to the Earth. You throw every year 90 soda cans, paper from 2 trees, 100 pounds of plastic, 110 bottles and jars, 70 food cans, and 10 times your weight in other products away!

In Mexico City, you have to turn your lights on, when you want to drive the car daytimes, because there is too much pollution.

The problem gets bigger when more people live on Earth.

The Greenhouse Effect is another big problem for the Earth. The Greenhouse Effect is when heat of the sun bounces back from Earth CO2 (carbon dioxide) traps the heat of the sun and throws it back to the Earth. In 1960 the Earth was much colder, now in 2009 the Earth is much warmer because there is much more CO2 (carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere. CO2 comes from burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas). If no CO2 would be in the atmosphere it would be 60˚F colder then now.

Pollution and the Greenhouse Effect hurts plants and animals. Acid rain hurts plants and animals because it has acid in it. Acid falls together with rain to Earth. This rain is poison for trees.

Polar bears are in trouble because the Greenhouse Effect is making the Earth warmer, that’s why the ice is melting. The Polar bear have to go a longer distance until they found there food. Every day 100 soccer fields of wood get cut down!

What can we do to stop Global warming? We can do a lot of stuff to help stop Global warming like: Turn your lights off when you go out of your room, take a bike to the school don’t take a car, sort your trash out, recycle your paper, use electricity carefully, don’t burn so much fossil fuels and take a shower instead of taking a bath. I wish that everybody would learn more about Climate Change because when everybody helps a little bit, it helps a lot.

What will happen with the German island? At the end of the 21 century this happen: the temperature will rise, 2.5-6.0˚C and the sea gets to 20-60 cm higher because of the melting ice. Wangerooge, an island of Germany has an elevation from 1-17 meters above the sea level, the melting ice is not a big problem for Wangerooge. But a big problem for the island is that a hurricane can come and overflow Wangerooge.

What can we do to slow down global warming? What my family does to stop global warming is: My mom makes a thicker isolation around the house in Germany. My dad doesn’t drive with the car to work he drives with his bike to work and I will try to use more showers instead of taking a bath. If every family saves a little bit of energy it would help a lot.