When climate change is discussed, melting glaciers are usually the main topic. In 1910, President Taft created Glacier National Park. It used to be home to about 150 glaciers. Since the creation, that number has decreased to less than 30 glaciers, and many of the ones remaining have shrunk by two-thirds. Scientists predict that within the next 30 years most, if not all, of the glaciers in the park will disappear.

Glacier National Park is not the only location impacted by climate change. Ice is changing everywhere on Earth. Snow on Kilimanjaro, glaciers in the Himalayas, and even the Arctic sea ice have all been melting and alarming rates. These are places where the snow and ice are common and usually stays around for most of the year. The rapid melting is extremely alarming to scientists, researchers, and even just the residents.

When all of this ice melts, the water travels to the oceans causing sea level rise. Sea level rise is dangerous because if the water gets high enough many coastal cities will be washed away. The main driver for sea level rise is the melting ice sheet in Greenland and the Arctic sea. When large chunks of ice break away from a land mass, the sea level rises. So, with the Earth’s temperature increasing there are many large ice chunks breaking away from land causing a mass rising all over the globe. Continue reading →

Many people just assume that an electric vehicle produces less greenhouse gas emissions than a gas car. The actual daily use of an electric car is creating very little emissions compared to a gas car. But when you look at the entire life span of an electric car, from manufacturing all the way to a junkyard, you would see a huge difference.

The manufacturing of an electric car takes double the energy and has twice as much impact on the environment than a gas car. Disposing of the battery is also very harmful to the environment. Tesla has a battery recycling program for all of the cars they produce, but all of the cars are not brought to this and all the other manufacturers do not have this process. Tesla takes back the old batteries and breaks them down for their raw material to use again. This batter recycling process actually works well when it is done correctly. But not every company recycles and not all batteries are brought back to be recycled.

In the world of gas cars, technology is being improved all the time. Gasoline vehicle efficiency is improving by nearly 4% per year. Electric car companies are not making any improvements to their efficiency at all.

Greenhouse gases, specifically carbon dioxide, are one of the leading factors causing climate change and the greenhouse effect. Air pollutants can be deposited into the soil, water, and the air causing huge impacts on the ecosystem and all-around life in certain areas.

The manufacturing process is harmful to the environment and really causes the electric car industry to produce more carbon dioxide emissions than gas cars. Carbon dioxide is linked to the greenhouse effect raising the overall temperature of the globe and killing much of the ocean life. If change is not implemented soon, climate change will get even worse and many ecosystems throughout the world will be destroyed.

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