JOHANNESBURG – Did you know that the earth’s climate is changing? Harry the Hominid, Maropeng’s spokeshominid, says this is because the earth’s temperature is rising day by day due to something called ‘global warming.’
He explains that the earth is surrounded by a layer of gasses called the atmosphere. “These gasses all help to keep the earth warm by trapping some of the heat from the sun close to the earth. Without it, it would be too cold to live on earth.”
These gasses ensure that all animals, plants and of course humans, can live happily on earth. But because of some of our human activities, there are now too many gasses collecting in the atmosphere and trapping heat against the surface of the earth. “This is what causes global warming, which means the temperature on earth is slowly rising. The result is climate change, with a number of nasty effects on earth like big storms and hurricanes, heat waves, bad droughts and massive floods,” says Harry.
So all in all global warming is not a good thing, and threatens our way of life. That’s why we need to understand how our own activities cause these gasses to be produced. “For example the exhaust fumes from travelling by car are greenhouse gasses too. Gas, coal wood and electricity all burn fuel that causes smoke and gasses too.”
So what can we do to help the earth? Harry offers the following tips:
- Whenever you can, walk instead of travelling by car. You can also share a ride with someone else or use public transport.
- Eat less meat and chicken as the animals we eat also produce a lot of methane gas from the feed they eat.
- Use less electricity by switching off the lights and appliances you’re not using.
- Use your own shopping bags, not plastic ones, as greenhouse gasses form while plastic bags are made.
- Use less paper, as lots of gasses are also produced in the paper-making process.
