Editor:
Imagine a world in which the Statue of Liberty, NASA's Cape Canaveral and many other historic landmarks are underwater. This is what may happen if we do not do anything to reverse the effect of climate change.
I am a high school student at New Roads School, which promotes sustainable living and preserving the environment. This year in science class, I researched climate change. My research led me to the conclusion that climate change should be classified as a national security threat. Unless we push our government and the governments of the world to reverse the effects of climate change, millions of people may lose their homes and possibly their lives due to coastal flooding in the United States and abroad. In Los Angeles, beach communities could be completely destroyed.
There are many small things each of us can do to help combat climate change. Of course, taking the bus, bicycling, and carpooling are good practices, but by themselves they only prevent the problem from getting worse; these things by themselves are not going to solve the problem.
In March, I sent a letter to Rep. Ted Lieu, Sen. Barbara Boxer, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and President Barack Obama urging them to create new climate change legislation. Specifically, I asked them to push for the creation of an international coalition of countries committed to lowering CO2 emissions worldwide. This body would put stricter regulations on corporate and government carbon emissions, with the goal of lowering carbon emissions enough that global temperatures do not increase 2 degrees Fahrenheit over the current global average temperatures.
We need our leaders to take big action to combat climate change. Like me, every Angeleno should write to local and national leaders on this issue. We need to flood the offices of our countries' leaders with letters in order to prevent our homes from being flooded. Our leaders need to take action now. The longer we wait to take action, the more likely it is that the damage done due to climate change will become irreversible.
Kaden Kessel
New Roads School,Class of 2018
