It seems that all we hear in the news today about the earth is global warming and how much worse it has gotten over the years. Some people don’t care about the rise in the heat index because they don’t think it affects their location, but does it?

   Out of all the 50 states, Kentucky is number 9 for risk of climate change. If we take a look at Kentucky’s climate change throughout the years, you can see that there has been an yearly increase by 1.5% in the heat index. According to statesatrisk.org “more than 150,000 people living in Kentucky are especially vulnerable to extreme heat.” They also say that “Nearly 1.5 million people in Kentucky, or 34 percent of the state’s population, are living in areas at elevated risk of wildfire.” So what can we, as high school students, do to prevent Kentucky from having these issues?

  According to nrdc.org,  it is recommended to use better light bulbs, such as LED bulbs. As stated in the article,“LED light bulbs use up to 80 percent less energy than conventional incandescents.” This Is a big difference. If we could get our teachers to support our classrooms with LED bulbs, it would help Kentucky,the Earth and maybe even show other schools in Warren County to save energy.

   If you don’t have anything to do and you would like to try something productive, go outside and plant trees. An additional recommendation from reva.edu says that planting trees can tremendously help our world. Deforestation is a huge cause of global warming. Planting more trees can slow this issue by not causing a gap with the lack of trees in our world. Since we lack trees, an increase of carbon dioxide is destroying the planet our home.

   A simple suggestion by nrdc.org is reducing water uses. Yes, even though you may already be doing this, you still need to stay aware as you brush your teeth, shower, and wash dishes because you could be wasting so much water without realizing it. Wasting water is just a small bad habit you can change to help not only your parents’ bills but also help the Earth. The outcome of this rising issue can consume our adulthood and elderly life all because of water waste.

  Mr.Foust, a social studies teacher here at Greenwood said that he did believe in Global warming but he also added that he believed it was a natural phenomenon that occurs as a result of Earth’s cycles.

   After learning that he understood what global warming was, he was subsequently asked “How big of an issue do you think global warming is and do you think it should be talked about more in our school?” Mr.Foust answered intelligently “I do think it’s a very important issue that you’re gonna see and already seeing patterns that are causing some areas to have hotter temperatures and the ice melting in the poles and you’re also seeing other weather phenomenons that you wouldn’t normally happen without the global warming.”

  When asked about what he thought talking about this issue more in schools would possibly make a little of a difference why or why not? He answered “that awareness and attempting to get people to think and act in a more conscious way towards it can’t hurt, though not everyone is going to listen. He finished saying that bringing it up will make people more likely to take action and do the right things.”

 Khushi Pandya, a 9th grade student here at Greenwood. Khushi also has a belief in global warming.

  “How important is it to you that people become more aware of this issue?” She answered quickly saying “it is very important because it affects our everyday lives.”

   After being asked if she thought that as time moves on, will global warming decrease. She said, “No, because there is not a way to fix it currently. As time moves on and the atmosphere doesn’t really change, we will still have global warming.” “I do believe that most of the global warming is caused by humans.”

   After she was asked “Do you think our governments care about the climate, is the reason why this issue is so urgent?” She answered confidently that she thought that some of the government did care about the environment but not all because they are still causing global warming. In conclusion, Khushi’s opinion on global warming is that it will never change because of how much the issue has risen and how very little of the population is aware of it.

  The planet needs our help, and it only starts with one for the issue to be realized by others. We, as High school students, need to preserve the planet for ourselves in the future and keep it looking beautiful. If this issue continues on, there will be a future with higher heat, a decrease in oxygen levels, and droughts. If you don’t want this, spread awareness and keep our Earth beautiful. If you would like to read more information on global warming you can visit these websites how-you-can-stop-global-warming, reva.edu.in, cause-of-global-warming and https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/ .