One Planet
Out of the nine planets in our solar system, there's only one planet that is home to mankind. Only one planet where the surface is made up of three-fourths of water. Only one planet that forms oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers that replenish those who walk the land, and shelter the abundance of inhabitants who swim amongst each other. Only one planet home to animals that run wild in the savanna and dry lands, and soar through the bright blue sky. Only one planet where you can witness the unique creations of nature such as the rocky and enormous mountains that stretch towards the sky, and the vibrant and striking flowers, plants, and trees that decorate the land. Only one planet that is so full of life and beauty that far exceeds our imagination, planet Earth. Yet we destroy the very essence of our existence out of greed, selfishness, and ignorance. We are the cancer that is killing our planet. We've destroyed this planet by participating in the deforestation of our world's largest rainforest, contributing to the pollution of our atmosphere with increased levels of carbon dioxide, that has caused global warming, and by dumping trash into our oceans.
The Amazon Rainforest is our world's largest Rainforest, it is equivalent in size to 48 bordering states, and covers 40% of the South American Continent. The Rainforest is made up of a large number of ecosystems, tree diversity, and is home to more than one-third of our world's species. Now we all know, that in order to live we need to breathe, and that in order to breathe we need oxygen, and oxygen is produced by trees. Which inevitably means no trees, no humans. Unfortunately, over 3 million acres of trees have been cut and destroyed just within the Amazon Rainforest, causing the destruction of millions of species homes and a decrease of the amount of oxygen in the air. The motivations of businesses behind the destruction of the Rainforest are for their own financial benefit. These companies have the audacity to partake in the genocide of species and ecosystems for the own selfish reasons, not understanding that the net worth of the trees that they are cutting down are so much greater than the net worth of the money that they crave. Deforestation releases nearly a billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year, that contributes to Global Warming.
Global warming is the gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earths surface, atmosphere, and oceans. We only have ourselves to blame for Global Warming. The burning of fossil fuels, killing of trees, mining, use of natural gasses, driving, smoking, and the mass raising of livestock are just a few examples of how we contribute to the increase of Global Warming. Since 1881, the global temperature has risen by 14 degrees Fahrenheit. Causing land ice to decrease by 2,581 billion tons each year, and the rise of sea levels. Yet there are people in our world who refuse to accept the fact that Global Warming is a reality.
As if hurting the atmosphere and rainforests weren't enough, we are also responsible for destroying our oceans. 12.7 million metric tons of plastic trash has been absorbed by our world's oceans in 2010 alone. The waste that we create is being pumped into the ocean hurting the innocent lives of sea creatures who don’t deserve to live in our filth. They are suffering the consequences of something that they didn't partake in. Fish and other sea animals can ingest large pieces of plastic that can clog their intestines, or can become entangled in plastic and suffocate. We aren't just disposing of trash, we are also disposing of chemical, industrial, and radioactive waste.
All this world has ever done was give back to us and all we’ve ever done is take from it. We’ve done more than take, we've destroyed our earths environment for our own economic and personal benefits. When are we going to stop being so self-centered, and ungrateful and start giving back to our planet? If we keep up with our bad habits then there won't be a planet left to destroy.