1

Carson Vore

NRS 235-01

November 29, 2018

Personal Testimony Essay

My name is Carson Vore and I am an undergraduate student at the University of Idaho

studying Environmental Science with an emphasis in Biology. After this essay I hope that you,

the United States Congress and as individuals, will be more aware of the issues that climate

change creates and what our future holds if nothing is done to change the effects and severity

that this causes. Climate change is a topic that comes up frequently in most of my classes since

this issue has become a prominent topic in the news and online in recent years. I have been

learning about climate change and what its effects are on the environment and society, so I hope

I am able to clearly articulate the research and information I have not only learned but also what

others have learned to help you understand this large and complex issue at hand.

During the summer of 2017 I spent most of my time in a small rural town located on the

south-east coast of Ghana in West Africa. While there I learned that most people who live in the

region rely on the ocean to survive. Not only do they capture fish to sell at local markets, but

most people have farms right next to the sea and use the water as irrigation. While meeting with

the local chief, he said that the Ghanaian government has had to put giant boulders along the

coast to help stop erosion from the rising sea levels and to stop the water from destroying

farmland. He credited the increase in water levels to climate change more specifically, global

warming. After this conversation I thought about all the lives that would be affected if sea levels

did rise enough to destroy farmland and all the families that would have no income because of

this. This experience strengthened my core values about how all lives matter, which reassured
 2

me in my belief that if there is a way to stop the rising sea levels and help people keep their lives

how they are then everyone should help. I then show my values and beliefs through my actions

(attitudes) and try to help people become more aware of this continuous issue.

In recent years, climate change has become a more well-known topic in news outlets with

more information continuing to be released quite often. Some root causes of climate change that

have been discussed is the accumulation of greenhouse gases, global warming, and the influx in

emissions being released. Emissions being released are from the burning of coal/oil/gas,

deforestation, livestock farming, using fertilizers containing nitrogen and fluorinated gases. An

article published by the European Commission stated, “Humans are increasingly influencing the

climate and the Earth’s temperature by burning fossil fuels, cutting down rainforests and farming

livestock. This adds enormous amounts of greenhouse gases to those naturally occurring in the

atmosphere, increasing the greenhouse effect and global warming.” These increases have been

significantly rising in recent decades which the visible effects can be seen worldwide. Some

specific visible effects seen here in North America have been a decrease in snowpack in the

western mountains, an increase in yields of rain-fed agriculture in some regions and an increased

frequency, intensity and duration of heat waves in cities that currently experience them. All of

which will continue to worsen overtime. One of the most fundamental questions in climate

change and one of the most difficult to answer is how much Earth will warm in response to

future greenhouse gas emissions (which has created several controversies amongst scientists and

government officials.) If something is not done to lessen the effects of climate change, the future

of our country and the world would likely change drastically and cause environmental and

societal issues far worse than they are now.

 3

There are a lot of perspectives about climate change all of which should be respected,

but there is a lot of truth to climate change and information to back up the claim that it is real and

happening. I hope that before you create your own perspective that you as an individual research

climate change for yourself and not let anyone hinder or persuade your beliefs. “Anthony

Watts—a former California TV weatherman who runs a company that provides weather data to

TV stations—says he doesn’t completely discount global warming, but he says that much of the

data recording temperatures are flawed because the stations are in areas like urban settings which

retain heat and therefore read too high.” (Spencer Michels) People from all walks of life have

different experiences that shape their beliefs about climate change and they provide a diverse

dialogue when discussing the topic (by using the transformative listening technique or the active

listening technique groups can work together to understand and share information in a productive

way) and finding out what will work best to gather more credible information and create

solutions to fix or counteract the negative effects of climate change.

I believe there are several solutions to help counteract the effects of climate change.

While I do not believe that climate change can be one-hundred percent reversed or fixed, I do

believe that by making smart decisions and being more aware and educated of the problem

people will be able to change their habits which will ultimately help the issue. I have three

solutions to propose to you that I believe are good ways to start reducing the effects of climate

change that serve both individual and common interests. Solution one: refrain from using fossil

fuels; eliminate the burning of coal/oil and eventually natural gas (there are no perfect solutions

for reducing dependence on fossil fuels, but every bit counts.) Solution two: consume less (buy

less stuff); cutting back on consumption results in fewer fossil fuels being burned to extract,

produce and ship products around the globe. Solution three: unplug; unplug electronics instead of
 4

just turning them off, also purchasing energy-efficient gadgets can also save both energy and

money which prevents more greenhouse gas emissions. While these are not the only solutions to

help counteract the effects of climate change, I do believe these are good ways to start

implementing change for now and the future.

After learning about climate change from various platforms I am now informed about

how this issue is ongoing and a very serious problem that not only our country, but every country

is facing in some way. My hope is that I informed you in some manner about climate change and

that you, as Congress men and women, become more interested and educated about this topic so

when there is a crisis or a situation where you must input your beliefs, that you know what you

are talking about and that you stand behind your choice and decisions for the betterment of

society currently and in the future.

 5

Works Cited

European Commission. Causes of Climate Change. N.p. n.d. Web. November 27, 2018.

Michels, Spencer. Climate Change from Different Perspectives. PBS News Hour, 2012.Web.

November 27, 2018.