Ocean Cleanup Device is a Success

There is officially some hope to be found for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch's removal. First, let's start with some background information.

• What is the garbage patch though? 

It is exactly what it sounds like. It is a massive island of various trash created from everything from plastics to baking pans. Its located between California and Hawaii in the pacific ocean and spans more than 600,000 miles, twice the size of Texas. 

• How did so much trash end up in a swirling vortex of the Pacific Ocean?

Humans. The majority of the trash found within the Garbage Patch is from North American and Asian land. Additionally, some trash is contributed by boaters who lose or discard of their garbage into the ocean. On a larger scale, offshore oil rigs and large cargo ships also contribute through the same means as well as through the lose of equipment in the water.

• Is this the only garbage patch on Earth?

Sadly, no. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest out of the five main patches. The other four main patches are found in the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Oceans. There are more smaller patches in addition to the main five all around the world though.

• What's the big deal?

The Garbage Patch is a major problem for the environment for countless reasons. For brevity's sake, I'll only name a couple The marine life in the ocean is consuming this plastic and becoming extremely sick or dying, which has its own set of repercussions. Additionally, the plastic naturally degrades as it does in landfills. Except in the ocean, those micro plastics are absorbed and eaten by the fish living in the ocean. The fish we humans love to eat. Some studies have even found micro plastics in humans, likely partially caused by seafood consumption.

• So, what is this new device?

It is simply called the System 001/B. It is the first major success of its parent The Ocean Cleanup Project, created by Boyan Slat. The device works in a fairly simple yet effective manner, which aims to collect 50% of the total garbage in the next 5 years. The device is made of a giant C-Shaped ring, a skirt so marine life can pass underneath, and a sea anchor. The C-Shaped ring is pulled around the ocean by the wind and collects garbage as it moved through the water. Simultaneously, the sea anchor slows the device's movement so that the surrounding garbage can keep up with it and be collected. The device is emptied after a few months by a boat that comes to retrieve the garbage which finds the device through its satellites and sensors. So, after several revisions and reattempts to the design of the boom, its creators are hopeful it will be successful enough to collect at least half of the Patch.

So, what happened at the Climate Summit?

The U.N. Climate Summit and Global Climate Strike both took place at the end of last week, but there hasn't been much coverage on its results yet. It is difficult to get an exact number of participants in the Global Climate Strike, but estimates are suggesting there were around 4 million participants. About 1,000 of those participants were from my hometown of Pittsburgh, while in contrast Germany contributed a staggering 1.4 million protesters. Many people are shocked by the massive turn out, but personally, I'm disappointed. There are over 7.5 billion humans on Earth, yet only 4 million participated. Out of the 7.5 billion people on Earth every single one relies on it to live, yet 4 million came out to protest for its savior. We can do better. 
The idea that we can and need to do better was fiercely conveyed by Greta Thunberg's "How Dare You" speech. Thunberg placed blame on the politicians of countries who have made promises to improve their standards by 2050, but haven't. In her speech she said: "For more than 30 years, the science has been crystal clear. How dare you continue to look away and come here saying that you're doing enough, when the politics and solutions needed are still nowhere in sight." 
Thunberg is absolutely right. We should and need to be doing more to at the very least slow this crisis. Why should everyday citizens of Earth expect our world leaders to care about the climate crisis when we act like we don't? I am not suggesting that the 4 million of us who did protest, or more who would have liked to protest, have failed completely in our attempts to save ourselves. We should be proud of the fact that we came together around the world to protest. However, it is not enough. It is not enough we talk about change but don't make it. It is not enough that world leaders simply talk and take small steps toward greener production yet major changes have yet to be followed through with. 
So, if the Global Climate Strike was fairly successful in its organization, impact, and turn out, what happened at the Climate Summit? The answer: a lot of promises without a guaranteed follow through. It is well known that Guterres places much value on giving the climate crisis the attention it deserves. At the Summit, he only offered the stage to countries which are making serious efforts to decrease the amount of harm they produce. Obviously, the U.S. was denied the opportunity to speak. Many other countries gave updates on their efforts to reach their long term goals, or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) which were set out in the Paris Agreement. Some coountires, like India and China are doing well to reach their NDC but still struggle to end their use of coal. The common theme for all participating countries though, is that everyone is struggling to make the changes. Countless countries have asked for more financial support in order to meet higher goals as well, which is difficult to provide.
Sadly, the current attention the climate crisis is recieving will likely be lost on Tuesday, once the UN General Assembly begins. Until the COP25 occurs in December, it is likely that NDCs and focus on the climate crisis will be forgotten yet again. For this reason, we have to do better.

The Global Climate Strike

Everyone has been buzzing about this Friday’s Global Climate Strike. There’s already almost 20k Instagram posts about it tagged, #globalclimatestrike. On Friday, September 20th, millions of people around the world of all ages are planning to walk out of school, work, anywhere in order to protest and demand a response from world leaders on climate change. Some businesses, like Amazon, Microsoft, Patagonia, and more have even closed or given their employees time off so that activists are able to protest to save the earth. Additionally, in New York City, the meeting place of the UN Climate Summit, over one million students have been given permission by their public schools to skip classes and attend the protests instead.

It’s truly amazing that what started out as Friday’s for a Future, started by Greta Thunberg, has grown into a world wide protest. Events like these give hope for those truly fighting for a future. They also inspire adults to follow in the footsteps of the historically young people who have started the climate strikes.

Despite all the buzz surrounding this event, you may have missed a few important details about it. 

The Global Climate Strike is actually more than just one Friday. Although it kicks off on September 20th, it will continue on until the 27th. 

The start date (September 20th) was chosen for a few reasons specifically:

1. The first UN Youth Climate Summit begins on September 21st and is a chance for young leaders, like Thunberg, to speak on climate issues.
2. UN Climate Summit begins on the 23rd of September and will be spoken at by multiple heads of government from around the world. 
3. To build off the already established Fridays for a Future

António Guterres, the secretariat of the United Nations, has ferociously backed the efforts of the young people organizing and protesting for the Global Climate Strike. Guterres has invited Thunberg to speak at the Summit, while contrarily denying Australia, Japan, and South Africa the opportunity to speak because of their continued support and use of the coal industry. Interestingly, China and India, who have the most planned and proposed coal power plants in the world are still allowed to speak at the Summit despite extensive pressure that has been put on them to reduce coal energy. The United States is also denied the opportunity to speak at the Summit as a result of President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Treaty in 2017. Despite practically every other country in the world being a part of the Paris Treaty, the United States does not plan on re-entering, and have likely inspired other countries like Brazil and Saudi Arabia to consider withdrawing as well since they have continually criticized the agreement. 

However, young people like Thunberg, and adult leaders like Guterres who do not and will not give up on the constant fight for climate change provide hope for change and a future for generations to come. The fight for climate change does not have to stop with government leaders and well known students though, anyone can protest for climate change. Every additional voice adds up and the more people who start demanding change the harder it is for leaders to ignore their cries.

Greta Thunberg: A World Wide Inspiration

So many people around the world, especially young people, are passionate about a cause yet don't act on it. More often than not this is because the average person feels like they can't make a change in the world because they're "just one person". While it is understandable why one may feel that way, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's true. Although you may not be able to snap your fingers and make policy changes or stop climate change all together, you do have a voice.
So often I comment around my friends on everything from climate change to plastic waste. Sometimes they laugh, sometimes they listen. I'm used to being the first and only to casually bring up topics like the climate crisis at dinner with friends, but to my surprise a friend of mine actually chose to before I did the other day. She told me that my constant climate crisis comments inspired her to purchase a reusable straw. While this may seem like a small action, for my friend, it was huge. After all this time she was the last person I would have expected to consciously make an eco-friendly purchase, let alone go out of her way to ask the Starbucks barista not to include a straw with her daily drink. Yes, I realize that one less person using a few less straws will not solve the climate crisis, but I am just one person who inspired another person to make a change. The mindset that comes with that kind of thinking is what matters. The fact that my voice, which at the time only reached a few friends, still made a small change. It is events like that that encourage people like 16-year-old Greta Thunberg to continue to work towards their goals and educate as many as they can on the climate crisis.
Despite Greta Thunberg's young age, her name is known internationally. Thunberg has already written the book No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference and has given fierce speeches at the UN, EU, and her own Ted Talk. Additionally, Time magazine has named her a "Next Generation Leader". Incredibly, these accomplishments have all been possible despite her young age and diagnoses of Asperger's, selective mutism, and OCD. Thunberg does not see these challenges as a hindrance, but rather her "superpower". Some may expect her diagnoses to tarnish credibility, as she says she doesn't understand the social games the rest of society plays. However, this works in her benefit, like a superpower, because she is not afraid to boldly say what so many leaders tip toe around.
In Thunberg's 2018 Ted Talk, she clearly and simply lays out the changes that must be made in order to slow the progression of the climate crisis. The question, "Are we evil?" is posed half way through her talk. Thunberg answers her own question and says we are not. Thunberg essentially says that humans are naive, and calmly but firmly criticizes the media for their lack of coverage on the climate crisis as people do not feel they are in a crisis if the news hasn't covered it as a headline or breaking news story. Thunberg makes a simple yet extremely valid point which is continuously overlooked. If society would panic over the climate crisis the way it had during the Ebola outbreak, and reduced their meat and dairy consumption as quickly as they purchased surgical masks to cover their mouths, then maybe international policy change would fall in line as quickly as the masks had. Unfortunately though, since nature does not bleed, does not cry, and cannot ask for help all while suburbs are consistently landscaped by man, the climate crisis will continue to go unnoticed.
It is because the climate crisis goes so unnoticed on a daily basis that we must speak for the Earth like Thunberg has and does, even if we are just one person. Every person has a voice, no matter how small.
Thunberg's Ted Talk:
https://www.ted.com/talks/greta_thunberg_the_disarming_case_to_act_right_now_on_climate?language=en 

The Amazon: From Lively to Lifeless

The Amazon Forest is an icon. Countless children's books, classroom decorations, and event themes are inspired by the breathtaking life that the Amazon supports. One can even find Amazonian creatures represented by Toucan Sam on famous Kellogg cereal boxes. So, if the hand of the Amazon can reach into most of the world's pop culture in a variety of ways, why are the majority of people more concerned with "2-Day shipping", than the fact that one of the most ecologically important places in the world has been burning nonstop for over three weeks? Could this be stopped if people demanded a response from the conservative Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro with the same amount of effort they demand appeasement from Amazon Customer service representatives?

These questions have been answered by the fact that the rainforest has been burning for over three weeks with little to no news coverage until now. Although it is easy to blame distractions on social media or simply just humanity's incredible vanity, it would only allow the crisis to be minimized and forgotten. Additionally, to accept defeat and consider the crisis hopeless would only create an image as dark as the smoke which is turning South American skies black. Somehow though, there is a small beacon of light shining through the clouds smoke.

The beacon is actually a Global Supertanker, hired by Bolivian President Evo Morales. The jet is originally from the U.S. and attempts to keep the flames from encroaching further into Bolivia's portion of the Amazon. Although it has been flying for over a week the fires are still furiously burning. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Brazil's largest state of Amazonas' declared state of emergency will be resolved anytime soon. Meanwhile, the homes of countless indigenous tribes and millions of species are being destroyed more and more with each passing day, despite the Supertanker's best efforts. It is suspected that the lack of response from President Bolsonaro is a result of his conservative policies and desire to open up Amazon land for mining and commercialization. These suspicions are what caused one tribe chief to refer to Bolsonaro's support for deforestation as a form of genocide.
Obviously, the Amazon Forest fires are causing extensive environmental damage to many species as well as humans, but what implications does this have on climate change? The answer is numerous. In short, the massive fires bring about a massive increase in greenhouse gas emissions, which increases the Earth's temperature. An increase in the Earth's temperature generally means melting glaciers, longer droughts, and other extreme weather events. As if that wasn't enough, the mass deforestation affects rainfall patterns which has its own set of ripple effects for those living in the Amazon's ecosystem. One cannot forget the extreme air pollution coming from the massive carbon monoxide plume which can be seen from space. Additionally, the general destruction of the ancient land that will take centuries to reforest and recover is yet another factor to consider. Assuming it is not sacrificed for commercial zoning and factory use of course, which will also only continue to pollute the Earth. The only Earth.
While it may seem like few realize that there is only one Earth and it is dying, many other governments and companies are stepping in to donate funds to save the rain forest, even if the G7 Summit Aid was originally rejected. Realistically, the average person cannot donate millions of dollars to Brazil, but the average person can do a number of other things to aid the Amazon.
~

• Reduce Your Meat Consumption
• Reduce Your Paper/Wood Consumption
• Buy/Look for Rainforest Alliance Certified Products at https://www.rainforest-alliance.org/ 
• Sign Greenpeace's Petition 
• https://act.greenpeace.org/page/39922/petition/1?_ga=2.65401002.547443292.1566484769-36951589.1566484769
• Sign Change.org's Petition for Investigation into the Fire's Cause
• https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-burning-of-the-amazon-rainforest

Purpose

Celeste Longinotti. That's me. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. That's where I'm from. The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. That's where I go to school. It's also where I take a brand-new class called Writing for Social Change. To say that there was no need for a class like this in the past because there was no need for social change is absurd, but understandable why it was not previously considered a priority. 

I'm currently 19 years old and for as long as I can remember there were always problems with the world. There was controversy over the War on Terror, which started when I could barely walk. Then the media shifted its focus to the mass destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina, and I remember my parents' relief because we weren't affected by it. Ultimately, the world moved on to the devastating effects of the Recession, when I remember my mom began to coupon a little more intently. The 2008 inauguration of Barack Obama was shown on the TV in my school's cafeteria, and I remember not understanding why so many people were shocked by the fact we had elected a black president. 

After Obama's election I had always thought the American society was taking steps in the right direction. After all the progress that was made, especially on the subject of social change, how could we, as a country, ever backtrack? It seemed impossible. Once news broke Trump was a running for office, no one I knew thought it would last. "He won't make it past primaries." "He's only doing it for the press, he'll back out." 

Here we are in 2019, and our sitting president, Donald Trump has been in office for almost three years. For the past two and a half years practically every social issue one could think of has been attacked or ignored by this administration. Gun violence, racism, mental health, education, and so many more. Yes, the majority of these social issues don't necessarily affect every member of the world's population, which is partially why they are sweepingly disregarded. However, the social issue which is continually ignored, yet never ceases to amaze me, is climate change. Every single creature living on every centimeter of the Earth can and will be affected by the results of climate change, but few do anything to aid the problem. So, my purpose has been stated. I hope to educate as many people as possible on the very real dangers of climate change.

There are so many social issues which call for social change, but how can we begin to fix any of those problems if humans are dying of heat stroke and diseases caused by pollution first? To idly say "I'll be dead before it's a problem for me." is to be selfish and lazy. To set low expectations for massive factories' pollution habits or even just for suburban homes who refuse to recycle is to let every living species around you down. 

Now is the time to make changes. Tomorrow comes and goes too quickly to wait.