18 months. At 18 months a child can walk. 796 homeless people died in the past 18 months. 547 days in 18 months. But only 18 months to save the planet. Only 18 months before the damage becomes irreversible. Something that is simply causing mayhem in Europe, when what we need is for everyone to work together to end pollution. Each day 8 million pieces of plastic make their way into the ocean. Each day 8 billion people know this is happening but continue to live their lives. Lives full of plastic, carbon and greenhouse gases. In the past 16 years there have been 14 of the hottest years on record. You can blame this on whoever you want but just know that it is us. There are 50 000 orcas in the wild. If 35 000 kill, most people will come to the conclusion that orcas kill. There are approximately 327.2 million people living in America and only 48% say they would change their habits for the sake of their own planet. That is less than half the population of America who understand the urgency of this problem. The oceans are warming and that is a fact. They are warming because of us. Too much greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide in the atmosphere . The amount of these greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is higher than at any point over the past 800 000 years. Now that’s a big number isn’t it. Too big, way too big a number. Thousands of people have spent and will spend all of their lives saving turtles that have swallowed plastic, seals searching for an iceberg to rest on and orcas that are trapped in nets that we have got them in. But there are still those people who are creating unnecessary work for these people. They can try as hard as they want, we can try as hard as we want but that doesn't stop the fact that others don't care one bit about their own planet. Why? I just don’t understand why not. It’s time to face the facts. In 18 months we will all be inhabiting a planet that will never be cured of its illness. The illness of plastic. Something that is contagious and can only be caught from humans. The difference is that the planet becoming ill affects every last thing which inhabits it. Including us. It is so simple yet deadly. What do you not understand! Our planet is dying and we are the cause. Changing rainfall patterns and the melting of glaciers will jeopardise water supplies to hundreds of millions of people. We will die of thirst. Today, the concentration of CO2 is 380ppm (parts per million). This is an incredibly sharp increase from the pre-industrial level value of about 280ppm. We will die of lung disease. In the past 100 years, the global average temperature has risen by about 0.74 degrees Celsius. We will die of heat death. To underline this, by polluting our oceans, increasing our use of greenhouse gases and simply not caring about our planet, we will be killing off humanity. I hope that my children can live without having to worry about climate change. I hope that my grandchildren can live in a world which is plastic free. I hope that my great grandchildren can live in a world where climate change is merely history. My hopes and dreams will only come true if we work together to end climate change and pollution now. And when I say now I mean right now. Don't just sit around saying ‘the world is full of pollution’ do something about it. Sitting around isn’t going to get us anywhere, is it? Only a few years ago people were saying aren’t the oceans beautiful. In only a few years people will be saying weren't the oceans beautiful? This is no joke. Humanity will end, sea creatures will die and animals will be no more. We are at the end of a road. Now we must decide whether to turn onto the right road and take action before it’s too late or to take the other road, and sit there watching our planet crumble. It is up to our generation. We carry the burden of saving humanity. Which road are you going to take? Take the wrong turn and watch your home, our home become nothing but dust. What are you going to choose? We must act now or we will never be forgiven.
