I want to share a student essay. Keep in mind that this was written by a 12 yr old....amazingly, not a high school junior or senior.

OUR PLANET'S DOWNFALL
By Alen Q.

What scares you? Snakes, or heights? Well, for me, it’s my future. My children’s, too. In the future, the Earth will be worse. The deteriorating ozone, pollution, all the factors to the gradual annihilation of our only home. But, I can’t dwell on these thoughts. Technology keeps improving and improving, so there is no knowing what will happen. Maybe we can discover planets that have an atmosphere that we can breathe, a climate we could find comfortable, or food to eat. But, dreadful thoughts come to my mind when I think about the future. Skin protection from the sun’s harmful UV rays, unbelievably filthy air, animal species extinct, with more to be wiped out. But on the other hand, millions more waiting to be discovered. Humans, the only creatures able to impact the Earth to the brink of it’s own demise, have strongly abused the fact it’s the only thing they’ve got. As paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould said, “People have ruined parts of the planet before. But in the 1980's we realized we could harm the entire planet.” Another one of my favorite quotes is: “Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught, we will realize that we cannot eat money.” said so by a 19th Century Cree Native American. As more and more people come into this Earth, our planet has to work harder to support them all. The Earth’s population is currently 6.5 billion. The population, mostly in poorer countries, is growing rapidly. Nigeria, for example, the country two times the size of California, has one of the fastest growing population in the world. In 1990, people predicted Nigeria’s population would double in just 22 years, and in 140 years, it’ll equal the entire population of the world today. (But in 1990 the population was about 5 billion) Another topic that strongly concerns me is the deforestation of rain forests. About 50 acres of rain forest are destroyed every minute, and in one year, rainforests equal to the size of Virginia will be lost. On the other hand, people are doing lots of things to help the Earth. Such as: recycling more, planting trees, composting, cutting down on littering, etc. These helpful acts, in time, could really assist in the Earth’s repair. The Earth is very, very important to us, but some people just can’t grasp that thought.