Humankind is in hot water: How global warming killed 96% of life on Earth and how we will do it again
Written by Andrea Lo
The Permian Period of 252 million years ago saw the greatest mass extinction via global warming and Earth is showing similar vital signs again.
An oil power-plant in Oberhausen, Germany
Heatwaves, floods, droughts, and forest fires have all been assaulting the world at once, with human-made carbon emissions at an all-time high. Global warming is very real, and recent developments have taken the world by storm. The future of humankind is indiscernible, with the rise of antibiotic resistance, nuclear warfare, and the looming threat of 900 potential asteroids hitting Earth in the next 100 years. If it wasn’t bad enough, global warming is beginning to emerge as a potential threat to humanity’s extinction; and it has happened before.
Back in the Permian Period, 252 million years ago, Earth faced a severe mass extinction due to none other than climate change. Happening over the span of a few thousand years, the disaster was natural, induced by the violent eruption of volcanoes. These ancient volcanoes, originating in Siberia, released tremendous amounts of carbon dioxide, trapping the heat through the Greenhouse Effect and subsequently raising the temperature by a drastic 8 ̊C. According to researchers, the heat alone killed off many species, while others theorize that the carbon dioxide caused oxygen levels in the water to lower. Many of the plants also rotted due to the sun being blocked out by smoke, inhibiting photosynthesis. Consequently, at least 95% of marine species and 70% of all land animals were wiped out, destroying approximately 96% of all life on Earth during the Permian Period. That’s right; the greatest mass extinction in the world was due to global warming.
“The issue with climate change is that people are not taking enough notice. Over the years, global warming was a slow creeping issue. But the issue is now,” says Cheryl Lam, Deputy of sustainable fashion show Trashion. Lam firmly expressed her disapproval of the lack of media coverage on climate change.
Worldwide forest fires: Live from 21st of September
And if that isn’t enough, more red flags are beginning to emerge, with recurring similarity to Earth’s previous mass extinction. Despite trends supporting global sustainability, worldwide energy consumption actually rose in 2018. Contrary to popular belief, the Amazon rainforest and regions of Africa, Brazil, Spain, Turkey, and Russia are still on fire today. With typhoons, heatwaves, floods, and droughts increasing on a global scale, the urgency of the situation has escalated at a startling pace.
“In all honesty, it’s terrifying,” student Melody Ho voiced. “Back then, it was just the news, but now you can feel it. The temperatures are rising, and the pollution is just getting worse.”
“This shows further incentive for young ones to take the initiative against these issues, as people are beginning to realize the stakes of climate change are higher than the harms of corporate interests,” says Jane Chan, Head of Education and renowned student environmental activist in the Sustainability Team. “We need to invest into more renewable energy sources. Despite the potential conflicts, taxes should be necessary for carbon-heavy products due to the alarming rate of climate change.”
Other students seem to agree with this, too. Ryan Chao, a member of the Sustainability Team, asserted the importance of technological development in the fight against global warming. “We should be setting and raising pensions for superfluous technology and functions, such as AC in cars. In order to staunch the rate of climate change, we need to discourage unnecessary carbon emissions as fast as possible,” Chao stated.
Year 11 Student Council representative Conrad Helau expressed his support as well. “Sustainable measures have to be adopted into large. Technology may play a significant part in the fight against climate change; smart devices such as automatic closing ACs and lights may make a considerable difference on a worldwide scale.”
Of course, we are not yet members of the United Nations or CEOs of influential corporations, so what can we do? “It seems like the only thing I can do right now is to be scared for humanity,” Jesslyn Chan, a former student of RCHK stated. “There are fires everywhere, but the world is too busy fighting to care. As a mere student, it feels helpless.”
Carbon capture; an alternative renewable energy source.
As of now, what we can do is make immediate changes to daily lifestyles. “Be more self-aware of small details such as the temperature of the AC, the usage of your phone,” affirmed Chao. Nothing we haven’t heard of before, but everything we haven’t actually committed to over the years.
Taylor Chung, another student environmental activist, speculates that changes in the human diet could lead to significant development against climate change. “It is proven that beef is in all actuality one of the biggest factors to the greenhouse gas effect, and the production and processing of meat in the industry generates excessive amounts of CO2 emissions,” Chung emphasized. Perhaps Meat-Free Monday is not the bane of all evil after all.
On the contrary, student Angellina Dash strongly disagreed. “As a detractor of the school’s Meat Free Monday Instalment, I do support the sustainable development, but the quality causes people to refrain from eating vegetarian food,” she remarked. Dash also brought up the common subversiveness towards the importance of becoming sustainable and concluded that it was due to the lack of development in technology and quality in a sustainable alternative.
Ankita Joshi, Jane Chan, and Taylor Chung on the student-led instalment of 32 solar panels in RCHK
“The main problem with the students lies in the fact that although students are aware of the growing issue of climate change, a lot of them are not taking action,” Helau asserted, promoting various student-led sustainability efforts in RCHK. Lam also voiced her approval and stated, “I would encourage students to take part in more activities and commitments already existing in our school. Spread the word and join the growing sustainability community. Show the world how big of a problem climate change really is.”