Preserve Wildlife With Preserved Parks

By Cassie W.

 

National parks are parts of land or bodies of water that are protected and preserved by the government. They are places where plants and animals can live freely without humans always trashing their homes or causing disruption. These places are vastly crucial in many ways, the salvation of some endangered animal species and ecosystems being just two.

Cecil was a black-maned lion and a leader of a pride. Black-maned lions are very rare. One day, Cecil was in a protected park where hunters could not hurt him.  An American trophy hunter lured him with an elephant carcass out of a park’s protected area and then shot him with an arrow. Cecil then suffered for hours before his murderers trailed him down to blow the gunshot that ended his life.

That sorrowful story about Cecil is dismally a very common event all over the globe and is an example of what is called trophy hunting. Trophy hunters are hunters who kill animals, not for food, but to display parts of the animals for pride and bragging rights. This is one event out of many that other organizations like the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife allow if they get their hands on land before it can become a protected or national park. Additionally, these organizations also allow harmful activities such as logging, livestock grazing, oil and gas drilling, and growing crops with GMOs* and pesticides. The events listed can all also be attributed to the increasing rate of animal species extinction. These organizations are grabbing more of our land before the government can protect them, therefore making them an environment pointed in the wrong direction for the sake of our animals living nearby.

On average, American trophy hunters import around 126,000+ animal parts, or wildlife trophies, per year; that is equal to 345 imports a day! Although trophy hunting is not the only reason for animal species extinction, it sure does make a huge impact. According to the Sierra Club, more national parks could decrease the animal species extinction rate to half of what it is now. If you are wondering how more protected parks could slash that animal extinction rate in half, well, the answer is quite simple; more national, or protected parks, makes less places where events that some organizations allow can exist, therefore a more secure place for animals that is out of harm’s way.

          Besides the fact that these parks can save the lives of thousands of animals, they can also do their part to withdraw the ongoing extremity of climate change from Earth. “In addition, more protected forests, grasslands, and waters would fight climate change by sequestering large amounts of carbon dioxide. They would also safeguard the full range of native plant and wildlife diversity,” says Michael Kellet, the executive director of RESTORE: The North Woods, a wildlife conservation group. National parks can do three things at once to fight climate change: store carbon, keep ecosystems intact, and provide healthy spaces for humans and animals. There are other ways to try to prevent the everlasting issue of climate change and others involving the environment’s well-being or human health and elation, but most cannot achieve all three listed previously at once.

People. People love going to national parks, especially since the most recent pandemic has occurred. “Our national parks are breathing spaces in a society increasingly holding its breath,” states Terry Tempest Williams. Because of the pandemic, the amount of people going to these parks has aggrandized. Unsurprisingly, many of those people would support more national parks so that the size of crowds decreases. Some people think that national parks are not ideal because all of the visitors may sometimes create trampling vegetation, but the notion is that if more protected parks are created, less people would be at each of the parks, therefore decreasing the severity of that problem. One source states that a plentiful chunk of people feel it necessary to save up to 50% of the Earth for wildlife. Ask yourself, do you feel it necessary to save more land for wildlife? Visitor spending to national parks has contributed around $28.6 million to the U.S. economy. That has aided 234,000 various jobs across the country that regards professions in recreation, transportation, and hospitality.

If you haven’t been convinced yet that the lack of protected parks is a relentless and severe problem, then think back to Cecil. He had a son, Xanda,  who died from a very similar situation a couple of years later. The amount of places in this world where wild animals are put at a perilous risk is exceedingly high. We do not need more places where these terrible events keep occurring over and over again; our Earth needs many additional places where every species is protected and the environment is healthy.

 

 

 

*GMOs=Genetically Modified Organisms

 

 

Say No to Free School Lunches for All

By Ava V.

 

Do you like free lunch? In the U.S, lunches are being served free to everyone this year, no matter their socioeconomic status. Although this might be wonderful news, you are probably not seeing the full picture.

       School lunches should not be free for everyone. You might be thinking,  people in poverty need free school lunch; some might not be able to afford or make lunch with low salaries. It’s not that poverty doesn’t need school lunches, it’s that everyone does not need them.  According to Feeding America, the National School Lunch Program provides free school lunches to families who are 130 percent below the poverty line. If not free, there is a reduced-price lunch with a cost of 40 cents.

Like all programs, the NSLP sought to have improper payments by distressing financial burdens. The Heritage Foundation states, “According to the Office of Management and Budget, the National School Lunch Program lost nearly $800 million, owing to improper payments in fiscal year 2018, while the School Breakfast Program lost $300 million. The Office of Management and Budget calls these programs ‘high-priority’ programs because of the misspending.” Compared to the amount of money Congress gives the NSLP annually (13.8 billion,) that is a small amount if you divide it up evenly with every school participating; more than a hundred thousand schools participate in the program.

Although schools in the U.S. are required by Michelle Obama’s Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, this doesn’t mean dietary restrictions have changed. According to a 2021 NIH article, “On average, school lunches provided 75 calories from added sugars, which accounted for 11% of calories in school lunches. This average was close to the DGA limit; however, more than two-thirds of schools (69%) prepared lunches that exceeded the DGA limit.”

School lunches will keep being brought up in today’s society. It would be best to address and not push it under the rug. Ask yourself, would school lunches be best if they were free for everyone?

 

 

 

Plastic Pollution is Piling Up with Detrimental Side Effects

By Kevin R.

 

In the last 15 years, out of the near-century of plastic production and usage, one-half of all plastic generation has occurred. While plastics may be convenient, highly versatile, and cheap, the waste they produce is growing exponentially and is becoming an increasingly large threat to the environment and Earth itself. It’s nearly impossible to not run into plastic throughout a normal day. Could you even list how many plastic items you run into daily?

          Plastics have been mass-produced because of their ability to replace more expensive materials efficiently with low production costs. The amount of plastic generation occurring per year consistently increases, creating larger and larger piles of slowly decomposing plastics in landfills. This especially happens in areas where there are low recycling rates. Without reusing and recycling, plastics end up in said landfills, water streams, ecosystems, and more places where plastics should not be, taking upwards of 50 years to go through the entire photodegradation process. Plastics do not biodegrade; they instead photodegrade, becoming easier to break into ever diminishing pieces. Because it is synthetic and unable to biodegrade and instead only becomes smaller and smaller, plastic never goes away.

The production of plastics is also increasing greatly, without showing signs of stopping soon. According to Laura Parker, a National Geographic article author, “[plastic] production increased exponentially, from 2.3 million tons in 1950 to 448 million tons by 2015. Production is expected to double by 2050.” By those statistics, the cumulative amount of plastic produced by 2050 will add up to 179,000,000,000 (179 billion) pounds. That is roughly the same weight as 20 million elephants or eight thousand Eiffel Towers.

It can be hard to comprehend those numbers; what might be easier to understand is the effects they have on the environment, animals, and even humans. An estimated 700 species, including those that are endangered, have been and are being affected by plastic pollutants, including humans, writes Parker. Plastic poses a threat to so many species due to its tendency to end up finding ways to threaten the survival of animals.

Humans and the environment also face the effects of the plastic lifecycle, including production, buildup, and incineration. A Ciel.Org author states, “in 2019, the production and incineration of plastic will add more than 850 million metric tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere — equal to the emissions from 189 five-hundred-megawatt coal power plants.” Greenhouse gases are known to harm the environment immensely, such as by crumbling the ozone layer of the atmosphere, causing more exposure to UVB rays, which have a plethora of harmful effects on humans. Additionally, nearly all plastics begin with fossil fuels, which are neither sustainable, renewable, nor safe.

Virtually every part of the Earth is covered with microplastics, a form plastics take on when broken down by wind abrasion, wave action, or ultraviolet light radiation. In humans, inhalation of microplastics can cause multiple adverse health effects, including lung damage, asthma attacks, and potentially — although not directly  — cancer. Scientists believe that each human ingests over 70,000 microplastic particles a year, some even being a result of shedding synthetic fibers in our clothing, and potentially many, up to an additional 90,000 particles yearly, from drinking out of plastic water bottles. Studies have shown that microplastics may serve as irritants, much like fibers of asbestos, a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral that can inflame the lungs and lead to cancer. Microplastics are also thought to assist in exposing the human body to toxic chemicals and microorganisms.

Many ways to combat this plastic pollution predicament have been invented, such as edible cutlery and packaging, an ocean clean-up system, and even pills containing toothpaste to get rid of the need for plastic toothpaste tubing. There are many ways in which we as humans, both individually and collectively, can help.  Recycling is crucial in solving the current plastic problem, as it prevents pollution, saves energy and money, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and allows for plastics to be utilized to the fullest extent. Although most understand that many plastics are meant to be recycled, humans have never even come close to properly disposing of all plastics. On average, only 14% of all “recyclable” plastic packaging is properly recycled.

Noticing and understanding the chasing arrows symbol commonly located on the bottom of plastic containers helps tremendously with recycling endeavors. Nearly all roadside recycling companies accept number one plastics, also known as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Number two (HDPE) and five (PP) plastics are also typically recyclable, although it is best to check with your local recycling company to verify. Number seven plastic can be tricky because it is the “other” category, however, the most common plastic type used in this category is polycarbonate. Luckily, polycarbonate usage has decreased due to its relations with bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical shown to be carcinogenic and potentially able to expose the human body to other negative health effects, including high blood pressure and effects on the brain.

Plastic pollution is an issue that needs to be stopped; as it continues to pile up, the consequences will only be felt more intensely by humans, ecosystems, the environment, and the Earth altogether. Being more aware and mindful of your contact with and disposal of plastics is a sure way to at least contribute to the solution of this ever-growing epidemic.

 

Schools Should Have Better School Lunches

By Tommy O. 

What do you think of school lunches ? School lunches have been an issue for years. Have you ever gone to your school cafeteria and were so hungry your stomach was growling, and  none of the choices there appealed to you?  This is why there needs to be better choices for school lunches. 

According to a Dobie News Survey, "People say that students are tossing out their lunches a lot more these days because the healthier they get, the more kids don't want to eat their lunch. Students throw away the vegetables, fruit, and anything else that doesn't look appealing to them." 

A staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal  mentions a High school in Arlington Texas, James Martin High School,  that has fast food places in the school.  The students enjoy having these options; there is a Pizza Hut, a Subway Sandwiches and Salads Kiosk, a Taco Bell burrito station, a Chick-fil -A and an Arby's. "The American School Food Service Association estimates that about 13% of the nation's 86,000 public schools now sell fast food, up from just 2% in 1991,” Louise Lee, Staff Reporter for The Wall Street Journal, states. 

The percentage of students who eat lunch at public schools is 35% to 50% of five million teens, getting 1/3 of their daily calories from school lunches. 16% of 9 to 13 year olds and 17% of 14 to 18 year  olds skip school lunches and are more likely to eat empty calories. 

Changing the menu often would give students more options and expose them to new foods. Creative lunch choices might be more appealing for students,  choices like farm to table foods, salad bars, taco bars, and sandwich or pizza stations. You could work together with the school food service staff and your school to improve school lunches. A few ideas could introduce new foods once or twice a month. Have a garden club that works helping with fresh vegetable options. Vending machines could offer a better selection of drinks, snacks that you could access when you are hungry and just need something quick to snack on.  Some of these options might encourage students to eat better and enjoy their school lunches more. 

These improvements to school lunches would make more students eat lunch at school because it gives them more choices. There needs to be more choices like this.  Let's make lunch an opportunity for students to get food they actually like! 

 

Space Debris 

By David M.

 

          Have you looked at space before? Did you know there are millions of pieces of space debris around Earth? Space debris is random junk like rocket fuel, paint flecks, and loads of other items all floating around Earth.

There are various causes to so much space debris such as governments and space companies. China made a major contribution to adding to space debris. One occasion being when China launched a missile at an old weather satellite; this in turn sent thousands of hunks of satellite around Earth. This may not sound like much, but these were adequately big pieces of debris, which means they can do catastrophic damage to any active satellite or space station.

Space debris duplicates in a sense. This is because when space debris collides with others it bursts into more pieces. The cycle of course continues. Another name for this is called “ Kessler Syndrome.” Kessler Syndrome is basically when there is an exceedingly vast amount of space debris because they keep colliding and producing more space debris at an exponential rate that we can’t go into space anymore, and major satellites become more space debris; every rocket, missile, or paint fleck we send in space gets hit by space debris, becoming more space debris. According to space.com, Donald Kessler says, “The 'Kessler Syndrome' was meant to describe the phenomenon that random collisions between objects large enough to catalogue would produce a hazard to spacecraft from small debris that is greater than the natural meteoroid environment."  This would imply that spacecrafts like satellites and such could be pelted with loads of space debris and therefore be futile to use.

You might be wondering, why are smaller pieces of space debris alarming? In space there is no gravity or any forces to slow it down, so it in turn rapidly accelerates. This leads to space debris usually getting to about 10 kilometers per second. You may also be wondering how humongous space debris is to be a critical size: around one centimeter. Of course, this is because of the acceleration of the debris. Space companies like NASA are keeping track of where the larger pieces of debris are in space, but they only have 22,000 pieces tracked. There are more 1 centimeter in diameter pieces than this. NASA tracks pieces of debris that are two inches in diameter and above.

Another question you may be asking is, why don’t we just get it all out of space? Scientists and engineers have tried making solutions for this; for example, there is Space Claw, also known as ClearSpace-1, which will capture and get rid of the Space Debris; it’ll be released in a couple of years. A couple more examples are Elsa-D and lasers. Elsa-D is meant for docking and taking inactive satellites back down. Lasers like the Laser-Orbital-Debris-Removal increase atmospheric drag, which means it slows space debris and makes space debris drop into the atmosphere to burn up.

Amazon and SpaceX announced that they would make and launch  thousands of satellites for communication like the internet and radio broadcasts. In the end, they’ll have put out tens of thousands of satellites; this will very much impinge on satellites in orbit. Satellites and space stations will most likely have to dodge satellites and random pieces of other junk once they do that. There are now megaconstellations going into orbit now too. A megaconstellation is basically just a bunch of satellites connected together. Donald Kessler and Burton Cour-palais said, "Satellite collisions would produce orbiting fragments, each of which would increase the probability of further collisions, leading to the growth of a belt of debris around the Earth." Now this means if satellites accidentally crash into each other once because of how many there are, it’d make more space debris, meaning it’d be a higher chance to hit another satellite, and so on, until we have a belt around Earth.

          Now you might ask why we just don’t wait for it all to crash down out of orbit and be diminished. This is because space debris can last many decades in space. By then it’d be too much to handle all the new space debris. People have come up with some sort of solution to it ,though, at least for trying to prevent space debris from becoming too much to handle for a while. If we launch satellite or rocket boosters early then we could prevent fuel and paint specks from getting into space. If we also get a handful of space debris out of space every year, that’d be a good way to stay out of the clear for a while more.

Space debris debris isn’t an entire danger to us really at all right now, but it is a threat to us advancing in space technology. Space exploration is good and all, but we need satellites, which are in orbit and can be hit by space debris, to use GPS, weather, television, radio, internet, and more. All these items are important for all sorts of uses. Science would be restricted in so many ways, and the world would be in chaos without satellites, but it would be in even more chaos without all the other space crafts that we use a bunch as well. Space debris isn’t just a threat to satellites. It’s a threat to all of our technology we’ve accomplished so far and can become a major problem if we don’t start fixing it.

         

         

 

 

Masks Work

By Madeline S.

 

Have you ever decided to go against COVID-19 guidelines, or at least considered it? People should continue to abide by Covid guidelines even while it seems the pandemic is approaching the endemic phase.

Studies have shown that COVID-19 guidelines and masks do work, and right now most of the Covid patients in the hospital are unvaccinated. While it's unlikely that a vaccinated person will get Covid, an unvaccinated person is five times more likely to get covid and ten times more likely to die from it. Even if you've already had Covid, getting vaccinated will protect you from possibly getting it again. Anybody can get COVID-19, even people  that are young and healthy. "To make an assumption that you're immune or protected from the potentially terrible consequences of this virus just because you're young is a foolish assumption," says Dr McWilliams, an infectious disease expert.

Rising cases are strongly linked to people saying masks don't work. Out of a survey of 1,575 people in the UK, 10% of people chose not to follow Covid guidelines, and that same 10% of people are less likely to check their sources. For some rule breakers, it's not about people not knowing the rules; instead, it's about people not trusting the people who are making those rules.  People in denial are leading to more Covid cases. "The things we are asking people to do are not easy. They are definitely disruptive, they're definitely challenging, but they do have evidence to show that they work when implemented broadly, widely, and followed by everyone,” says Nipunie Rajapakse.

So if you ever feel like Covid guidelines are nothing more than annoying, then remember, they were made to help you and the people around you. If everyone follows Covid guidelines, we might be able to overcome the COVID-19 virus.

 

 

Should zoos be banned?

By:Marina S.

         How would you feel if suddenly you were swept away from your family, shipped off across the world, and locked in a jail cell for the entertainment of others? That's probably the last thing a human could want. In 2017, in South Lake Zoo located in England, nearly 500 animals died due to adverse conditions. It's time we think about the point of view animals have in zoos.

You might not think of zoos as being a big problem. However, zoos hold animals captive and force them to be who they aren't supposed to be. One of the biggest problems is captivity. Zoos are one-hundred times smaller than their natural habitat in the wild. An average cage in a zoo is twenty by fifteen feet, preventing the animals from roaming around as much as they could in their natural habitat in the wild. Captivity can also cause fundamental mental health problems like tension and abnormal behaviors. The zoo's habitat also doesn't provide the social health and animal needs.

Education. Zoo’s main purpose is to educate people. But what if I told you they have been spreading false information? Zoos are unable to witness the facts about animals and how they truly are, another major issue is animal abduction. Animals are being taken away from their families and held captive in zoos, which is why 80% of animals in zoos suffer from depression and anxiety. Many may think zoos are good for taking care of endangered animals, which is true. However, 82% of the animals taken into zoos are not endangered, meaning they are perfectly fine in their natural habitat in the wild.   Zoos are showing people animals in unnatural habitats, and it doesn't show how animals actually react in the wild. Researchers have found that 59% of kids have not had a positive educational outcome after visiting the zoo.

Zoos tend to take advantage of animals. Zoos often force animals to produce young  so there will be more animals to put out for show. But what happens when they get old? When the animals get old in zoos, they often get killed or sold.

It's time people stand for animals that are being held captive in zoos. “We built zoos because we are cruel, because we care not about the freedom of others, but only our own freedom, because animals are weak and we love to crush the weak, because we never understood and we are still not understanding that all living things have feelings like us!” says Mehmet Murat Ildan, a zookeeper in the Bronx. There may be pros of zoos, but the cons cancel them out. Many may think zoos are close to “homes” for animals, but these so-called “homes” for animals are much more like prisons; reality may not actually be what it looks like.

 

 

All Tobacco Products Need To Be Criminalized.

By Evan S.

  

         Think about the billions of unlawful actions in this country. What might come to your mind? Theft, types of violence, illegal drug use, anything. But you might also think of something that should be illegal; one thing that might come to your mind is tobacco products that are still legal. Tobacco’s horrendous and vile nature is clearly a message that tobacco criminalization is mandatory.

Simah Herman was someone who had vaped on a daily basis with her parents unaware of these habits. Despite having much healthy exercise as a dancer, this habit of everyday vaping caught onto her as she suddenly stopped breathing and drifted off into a coma. Despite Simah being on the verge of death, she luckily survived and started a no vape campaign, according to Abcnews.go.com.

450,000 deaths every year occur from the usage of tobacco, with the youngest death being a 15-year-old from Texas, according to the New York Times. This just shows how deadly products with relations to tobacco can be, considering the young age of the victim.

Tobacco contains many toxic chemicals like nicotine, which is an addictive chemical that makes people have the urge to have more and more, but that's not the only appalling chemical in there. According to Health.org, many uncanny chemicals such as 1-3 butadiene, which is used to manufacture rubber and to preserve wood. These bizarre chemicals can cause serious impairment to you. Yet, these tobacco companies get very little punishment for being corrupt.

It's well known that many people who use tobacco have a high chance of having an ill-starred expedition. As many diseases and other health problems occur from this, the most notable is the notorious disease known as lung cancer. But, according to Heart.org, tobacco products also have links to stroke, heart disease, and other chronic diseases, and can also risk cancer to the throat, mouth, kidneys, and bladder.

Tobacco product users aren’t the only ones to get affected; secondhand smoke or vaping can affect people with the exact same problems as the people who smoke or vape. It would really be a shame if some innocent people suffered from the side effects of tobacco.

You may also ask the reason why people smoke. According to Veterans.smokefree.com, the reasons why people might smoke or vape might be because of stress relief, pressure, and being in social situations, and people with PTSD smoke more intensely than people with no PTSD. Also, tobacco relieving stress is just as believable as a fairy tail since it has links to worsening depression and anxiety.

Tobacco is like a ticking time bomb;  the more you use tobacco products, the more likely a horrendous, unfortunate future. It is incredibly clear that tobacco companies and their products are a menace to society.  We humans are fighting a “war” with tobacco we don’t even know about. All tobacco products need to be criminalized to help save future generations from all its disreputable acts.

         

 

 

The Dangers of Marijuana   

By Ryan S.

         Have you ever wondered how much marijuana is scattered throughout the U.S? Have you ever wondered how many people are marijuana users?  As of the end of 2016, roughly 24 million U.S. inhabitants over the age of 11 qualified as marijuana users.

          In 2008, horror struck when Jeffery Veatch’s son Justin ended his story with heroin but started it with marijuana. Justin was a young musician and only at the age of 14 when he started using Marijuana. It came with great anxiety he could not handle. So Justin started using opiates, but when Justin didn’t have a strong enough pill, he started using heroin. Not too long after, he died. Just like Justin,15.3 percent of people are affected by the gateway way drug known as cannabis. Gateway drugs lead people to try and become addicted to other drugs.

Marijuana affects the brain’s reward system, which changes the way you are aware of negative impacts. THC targets a specific spot in the brain called cannabinoid receptors. Usually, these receptors are activated by chemicals similar to THC that are part of our communication system in your brain. It also slows down thinking and is very irritating to the lungs. This is because Marijuana has toxins and carcinogens which are released from the combustion of materials. A study from Yale university has shown slowed down thinking is caused by Marijuana Heightening your senses (colors might seem brighter and sounds might seem louder).  It distorts your sense of time and hurts your motor skills and makes driving more dangerous.

The brain has a long journey to recover from addiction. Marijuana can stay in your body for up to 24 hours. So if you did start to recover it would take up to one week just to start to rebuild the prefrontal cortex and recover your lost brain receptors.

You may wonder how teens even get their hands on it anyway. Now it is legal in 18 states, including New York, where you get medical Marijuana. Some people need this for serious pain and need a muscle relaxant. However, doctors generally prescribe patients with medical Marijuana if they believe that the patient is in need of it; Marjuana does a prodigious job at relaxing your body.

The problem is that 90% of Americans with substance abuse problems started smoking marijuana before the age of 18, but this is when your body is still growing and can impact you majorly. You should know the risks and how much of an effect on your body it has. So at the very least, we need to stop legalizing it right away, realizing the harder it is to buy, the fewer people will use it. We can stop or even slow the rate of all the harm that can and will happen.

 

 

 

 

 

Society’s Future

By Timmy P.

 

What can Crypto be used for in society? Crypto is like the digital dollar. With tech growing fast Crypto is going to become a big part of tech. Society’s future is based on technology, but it is based on Cryptocurrencies, and they are the future of society.

Crypto has spiked recently with huge interest. Interest has come from big companies, even U.S officials. Companies have started accepting Crypto as a new currency. Some companies are even focusing on Crypto being the main currency that their company accepts, companies like Starbucks, AMC, Amazon, and Microsoft. Dave Abner, head of global development at Gemini, a Cryptocurrency, has stated, “We’ve seen a tremendous amount of inflow of attention, and that’s going to continue to drive the growth of the industry for a while now.” Entrepreneurs have also made a huge living off Crypto, making it their job. Popular job site Indeed has around 420 different jobs listed around Crypto, from Crypto miners to Cryptocurrency startups. Interest like this is going to boost Crypto into the future.

  Facebook has officially changed its name to Meta, and with this announcement, they have created the Metaverse. The Metaverse is based on a new way to communicate and hang out. The Metaverse is set as the future and is powered by VR. Inside the Metaverse, the only real currency is Crypto. Since the start of the Metaverse, popularity has been very good. Big companies are investing lots of money; companies like Epic Games, Sony, Nivida, and Microsoft are investing. People are also buying and spending Crypto in the Metaverse. Even a Canadian spent $2.43 billion on land in the Metaverse. NFTs, non-refundable tokens, can be bought in the Metaverse. NFTs are pretty much digital artwork. The Metaverse is going to boost Crypto into the future.

Recently, NFTs have been amplified all over the world. NFTs are popular with celebrities, making them their profile pictures. NFTs are being bought with Crypto. This means Crypto is getting a boost with NFTs. NFTs can be used for lots of different things. With the Metaverse and how they can be artwork for rooms, Crypto is getting a huge boost into the future with NFTs.

Society doesn’t know what the future will bring, but Crypto will escort us there. Without Crypto, society won’t continue blooming in the future, and it won’t make things easier. Crypto is shaping the future one step at a time.

 

 

 

 Is Animal Testing the same as Animal Abuse?

By Molly M.

 

         Have you ever put on your face care product or even washed your hands and thought it was magically good and healthy for your skin? Well, actually, that one product goes through a series of tests on different animals.  The laboratories test some diseases on these animals to see how we can react to them, as well as other chemicals, makeup products and skincare products.

Animal testing is done in a lab with scientists and a lot of different types of animals. The main animals are rabbits, rats, and mice that get tested. But even domestic animals are tested too.  The cosmetic industry estimates that 100,000 to 200,000 animals get tested each year just to suffer or die. Typically they are rodents like mice, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, and mice.  These animals are tested with different types of makeup, skincare products, and fragrances because animal skin is the “same” as human skin. One single chemical they test on animals can kill up to 10,000 animals.

You come in contact with bad and toxic chemicals every single day; the chemicals that they test on animals most likely have these same chemicals. Most of the time, animal testings are miss leading, and humans get harmed while using the product from inaccurate detail and results on what the testings give back to them.  More than 90% of animal testing is not accurate and fails. This leads to human injuries.  Scientists that do these tests are saying that these chemical tests are not working as well as they want them too.  92% of the time, even after animal testing, the chemicals, makeup, and skincare products almost always fails to get on the market. These scientists assume we are just giant rats and animals. But really our skin isn't even close to the animal's skin they are testing on.The diseases they are also testing on animals are never the same as the diseases out of the laboratories, and the results that the tests produce are never equal to how our skin and body would react to it. They test drug development in cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, traumatic brain injuries, alzheimers, and inflammatory conditions.  

Every year, about 115 million animals get tested, and 110 animals die. So that leaves five million animals trapped in the laboratories or let out. Some animals don't even die, but they are injured for the rest of their lives, suffering. In the United States alone, over one million animals are held captive, including 100 million rats and mice. After every experiment of a makeup product, fragrance, or skincare product, if the animal's condition is very bad, the scientists do recovery surgeries on them, but some don't even live. The recovery surgeries put the animals in lots and lots of pain that can be life-long. The surgeons make these animals inhale toxic things, crack their spines, drill holes into their skulls, and get their skin burned off. The places where they do these things are usually where the disease, makeup product, or skin-care product tests go wrong and they try to make it better. 

Have you ever seen a little bunny rabbit on your shampoo bottle or your favorite makeup product? That is there because the company that you use is cruelty-free, and they don't test on animals or hurt them for their product. If you want to try to find this symbol on your products, it will either be on the front or back of the bottle. Or you can just search it up.

Animal testing is a huge deal around the world and mostly in the United States.  These animals are suffering day by day for the chemicals we use on our face. Next time you are laying on the couch with your little puppy, remember that animals just like them are going through lots of pain for our great skin products and makeup.

 

 

 

The Invisible Threat

By Walker J.

 

A looming, dark storm floats overhead, growing into a monster of massive proportions. That stormy cloud is just waiting to downpour on humanity's future, and few believe it’s even coming. Carbon dioxide is being created as a byproduct of most of man’s creations, and it’s pushing us towards our demise.

Ozone is one of the most important things in our atmosphere. It blocks out the sun's ultraviolet rays or solar radiation. Without it, life would suffer until death from skin cancer. The massive emissions of CO2 are slowing the production of this precious gas. Deforestation is also a micro problem contributing to this macro threat. Trees take carbon dioxide and turns it into oxygen, which is needed for all life on earth. As our civilization expands we need to clear the pesky life-supporting forests. Ocean Acidification is also an appearing threat on our horizon. The ph (how acidic something is) of the oceans is 8.1 on the ph scale or a weak acid. Although 8.1 is a small number, it is an increase of 30%. It is also estimated that by 2030 ocean acidification could destroy all shellfish in our oceans.

        Those are just the micro problems that all need to be addressed before the true threat can be stopped. Global warming is the main problem that needs to be silenced. Statistics show that the average temperature has increased since 1850 by around two degrees Fahrenheit. The world has been affected by this with glaciers melting, shorter winters, and plants are flowering sooner. The Antarctic and Polar ice have been melting over the years, causing the oceans to rise by 7.87 inches. By 2100, it’s estimated to rise by 8 to 10ft! It is also estimated that by 2050 the arctic will be ice-free in the summer; that's millions of tonnes of ice all melting into our oceans. Coastal cities will be flooded with massive amounts of acidic water. It’s also expected that temperatures will rise even more over the next century by anywhere from 2.5 to 10 degrees.

There are alternatives available that are eco-friendly, but why aren’t they already being used? Fossil fuels make a lot of money for mining companies. Oil is needed worldwide to power machines, and that’s why these companies are there. Oil mining companies need to realize that they are being paid to ruin our future. It will take time to complete, but in time we could replace the great oil rigs in the oceans with towering wind farms on land. Hydroelectric power would be perfect for coastlines, lakes, and rivers. Fossil fuels are not needed as shown in the north Atlantic. Iceland has been almost 100% on green energy, only using its environment to its advantage. Geothermal energy is used by Iceland to generate most of its electricity, but geothermal energy isn’t stranded on an island. Geothermal energy can be used almost anywhere in the world. Solar panels can be used everywhere on Earth and are more available to the public now. If all of these power sources were combined to power our world we could weaken climate change and its armada.

Our fight isn’t ending against climate change and won’t be anytime soon. We need to switch to renewable energy as soon as possible to slow down this global threat. For all of humanity we have been taken from our planet just to progress a little farther. We need to start giving back to our planet before it’s too late. After all, this is our planet, and we share it with billions of lives.

           

           

           

 

GOSSIP

By Jayde C.

        Have you ever heard someone talk about someone behind their back? Gossip can lead to depression, negative thoughts about yourself, self-isolation, or worst case, suicide. Gossip is a vicious cycle that often can not be handled.  It can spread so quickly, and the outcome is oftentimes not even the truth. 

According to All Women's Talk, “No one is born evil; we’re good people on the inside, so everyone should be given the benefit of the doubt.”  You get one reputation.  Once that is damaged, even if untrue, it is hard to change the views people may have of you. The negative things that were said will always be in the back of someone's mind. Therefore, gossip can be very negative and permanently impact a person’s reputation.

Typically, the one spreading rumors about the person may just be jealous or trying to seek revenge for some reason.  According to Jack Schafer,  “People like to gossip because it gives them a sense that they possess secret information about another person, which gives them a sense of power.”  However, there is another form of gossip. The unintentional kind.  Sometimes gossip could just be someone chatting to someone else and the story gets completely mixed up. That can happen when a story goes from one individual to another.  It can start out as something so innocent, and the next thing you know the whole story went in the wrong direction.

Can gossip be good for you? That's challenging to answer, but there are two ways to look at it. Of course, gossip is bad, but expressing your feelings in a good way can be good for you by helping you to release stress. Martinescu from Worklife said, “Over time, gossip might help people realize they have shared values and experiences, which can help bring them closer.” On the other hand, when you express your emotions too much or in an angry way, it may offend people. In instances when you attempt to release that stress you can potentially ruin it for yourself when people do not like what you have to say. In those cases, expressing your negative thoughts and feelings can sometimes demolish relationships.

It is sad to hear how much of people's time is dedicated to gossip. Gossip makes up 80% of our conversations!  We all think women are the bigger blabber mouths, but, as stated by Inc., “More than half (55%) of men admit to gossiping while four in five (79%) women chat at the office. However, men prove to be the bigger blabber-mouths; they spend about one hour a week talking about the juicy stuff, compared to women who gossip just over 30 minutes a week.” 

Gossip can be extremely hurtful. People's feelings can be hurt very easily when others  gossip about them. When people participate in gossip, it can humiliate and embarrass the individuals that are being talked about. Victims of gossip can have doubts and create thoughts about themselves that shouldn't happen. Without gossip, the world would be a more peaceful and friendly place; everyone could get along and focus on the important things in life.

         

 

Climate Change

 By Emma B.

 

Imagine our future generations; they won’t forgive you for what we are doing to this planet. They will have to suffer through things we have the opportunity to change, like unpredictable weather, unbearable summers, and the extinction of animals. Do we want our future to look like this?

        What is Climate change? Climate change is the rapid heating of Earth due to human activity. The planet is warming, from the North Pole to the South Pole. The heat is melting glaciers, causing extreme weather and risking animal population and habitats. It’s also melting ice worldwide. Much of this melting ice contributes to sea level rise. Global sea levels are rising 0.13 inches a year. Some Arctic populations have decreased by 90 percent or more. 95% of the world's oldest and strongest ice is gone. Precipitation (like rain and snowfall) has increased across the globe, on average. Yet, some regions are experiencing more severe drought, increased risk of wildfires, and drinking water shortages.

Your favorite places are being affected. The Dead Sea will take on its name if we continue to procrastinate. The Great wall of China (China is currently the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, responsible for 30% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions), The Grand Canyon, Greenland, The Maldives, the Amazon River, (Robert Walker, a quantitative geographer at the University of Florida's Center for Latin American studies, has said that unless something unprecedented happens, he predicts that the Amazon rainforest will be wiped out by 2064). These places may not get destroyed anytime soon, but eventually they will, and future generations will have to deal with it due to our poor actions.

We have come up with a lot of natural resources to our advantage. Although this has led to many wonderful inventions and advancements, like the device you’re using to read this, we have also increased our consumption of natural resources.  That also means we have released a lot of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gasses occur naturally, but excess gas can be harmful to our planet. Human activities have increased the release of non-naturally occurring greenhouse gases because we have stepped up our demand for burning fossil fuels. The consumption of greenhouse gasses traps heat from the sun, and the more heat they trap, the warmer our planet gets. As that happens, we feel the effects.

Our animals are dying. Cheetahs, pandas, asian elephants, polar bears, and penguins. Statistics show that since 2010, 160 species of animals have gone extinct, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. An estimation shows that by 2050, over one million species will be lost. Scientists also estimate on average that 150 to 200 species of plants, insects, and birds go extinct every 24 hours. Some animals/species go extinct because they cannot withstand harsh temperatures, so they have to move habitats.

Ecosystems are being affected, meaning they can no longer fulfill the needs of animals anymore. This means the sources they need to survive are disappearing, and the impact of this is very unfortunate. As animals are set on the move, it is difficult to find a new ecosystem in which they can easily adjust to. Due to the warm and harsh temperatures, tundras have been turning into forests. This means animals like arctic foxes, polar bears, and wolves that live in the tundras can no longer survive in this habitat. This is because most animals that live in the tundras have thicker layers of fur and feathers. They are used to withstanding below average temperatures, and placing them in a new habitat that they cannot adapt to harms the animals.

“We can no longer delay or do the bare minimum to address climate change. This is a global, existential crisis, and we’ll all suffer the consequences if we fail,” says President Joe Biden.   Do we need this? The world needs to wake up and take this matter into their own hands and realize if we don't care for our planet, at the end of the day, it will be our fault. We're the first generation to know we're destroying the world, but we might be the last that can do anything about it.