Emma: Learned So Far

The world has many problems. More in the last 20 years than ever before. During the trip we have learned many things about the Earth, and unfortunately; its problems. Three big problems are; damage of trees, water consumption, and overpopulation.

Trees are the most useful companion on the Earth. They give us oxygen to breathe and we give them carbon dioxide back. By cutting them down not only are we hurting their species, but ours too. One thing that almost all humans own is wood. That is a problem for the rainforests. By cutting down the wood we are killing a whole eco-system. An eco-system so unique that it may never be able to reform if we knock it off the face of the planet. Also we are destroying a place in which lots of fresh water is stored.

Water is a HUGE problem. Even though the world is covered in water, not all of it is useful. Most of it is salty, some of it is muddy and lots of it is locked up in Antarctica. Most of the worlds fresh water is frozen in the ice. Because Antarctica is surrounded by the ocean, when the ice melts from global warming it goes into the salt water. So that fresh water is lost to us. Without that fresh water the 6 billion people living on the planet may not all have good clean water; most people have to use muddy, unsuitable water.

6 billion people on the planet is a large number. So big that it is starting to get out of hand. The Earth is one size and will not grow. The human species is growing rapidly. With too many humans we are starting to confine all the other species around us. A good example is the elephants in Africa. They are having to be culled because they don’t have any space to graze anymore. We started that problem by confining them into a certain space. We need them in the world. Earth needs everything on it to sustain itself; from the tiny mosquito to the giant elephant. The world can only live without one thing; humans. Everyone should help with this problem.

(Emma) This world is facing too many challenges. Some big ones include: deforestation, water availability and overpopulation. It is up to us to help save species while we still can. We need everyone to help in the world, all 6 billion people not just the 1 million that are committed. If we don’t change our act quickly, the big ball of dirt that we are living on will slowly start to decay. And it’s all our fault!