The harsh reality of 2038 (Essay winner Group A)
Dear Mr Bell,
I am writing to you, the CEO of WWF to alert you to what will happen in the future if steps are not taken to save the Australian environment. In 2038, I live in a world completely different to yours. The future world is so without joy that I can't even show my child what it is like to witness rain falling from the sky, I can't show him fish in the ocean and I can only tell him stories of what it is like to be able to walk outside without the threat of pollution all around you. A future where I could have let my child experience this and he and I could be living the great life that you currently are enjoying and taking for granted. In 2038 there is hardly any water and humans have a daily struggle to survive and defeat is not an option. We have been forced to take animals water away and drain lakes to quench the thirst of the human race. Hundreds of factories have been shut down and this has changed the way all of us live. We no longer have any appliances that you are currently enjoying in 2008. We have no showers, we can't use any electricity and our life is fruitless. I plead to you and the people of 2008 to change the way you live to let our future have animals that we love and to let us live a life where I can show my child all of the amazing miracles of nature that are in this joyless world.
The human race is in a constant battle to stay alive and we have put ourselves above everything else. We have sucked riverbeds dry to get the necessary drinking water that all humans need and this has caused the death of hundreds of animals and the extinction of many species. Now we are faced with the hard decision of whether we should give this water to agriculture which will provide us with animals and grain to eat or whether we should use the water to drink. It has been thought that we could purify contaminated water but it has been found that animals react badly to this water and we have lost half of our cattle population from this theory. We need you and WWF to educate people about what has happened in 2038 and force people to realise that if they keep using water at the current rate then they will all be heading towards a world where there is so little water that factories will be shut down by the thousands to keep fresh water running from our taps. I live in a world where some days there is no water running from the taps. I want my child to grow up in a world where there are necessities as running water.
In my time most people work as farmers, because there are few other jobs needed because there is nothing to sell. Everyone has to help farms or one of a few businesses that have been kept open (companies that have permits to run), because these businesses and farms are very important to Australia. This becomes peoples income and they don't get money that get food from the farmers that we work for. This is one thing that has been solved because with so many people helping the farmers they can produce more food and this helps to keep Australians fed, alive and healthy enough to work. This is a new policy that needs to be spread throughout the community and therefore people will be ready to accept it when the time comes. We need you to change it because children are dying of starvation not because they are in a poor country but because there is not enough food in the world to keep everyone alive. Give children the chance to live a full and happy life and convince people to be mindful of the environment when they use water or use electronic appliances.
Australian factories created over 65% of Australia's greenhouse gases in 2007, which is over 325 million tonnes of greenhouse gases. Twelve years ago we shut down most factories that created non-renewable energy, and most factories that created any appliances that will release greenhouse gases. This has slowed global warming immensely but it is feared that it is already too late as the earth in our time will take a long time to heal. We need you to get the idea of shutting down factories into the public's mind. This means when you realise that something needs to be done to cut at least half of your greenhouse gases or else the world as you know it will cease then this idea will already be on the table. When you cut the amount of energy and products being manufactured this will mean that the human race will go back a few decades in technology but it will be for the best. All of this may seem slightly illogical to you but it is just living a plain and simple life like any other creature on this planet. If you can convince people that shutting down factories is a good idea then the planet won't go back tens of millions of years to when it was a planet with an atmosphere of carbon dioxide where life was unsustainable. It may be harder in the short term but in the long term it will allow you to enjoy a long and prosperous life. It will make a clean, safe world on a healthy planet.
In 2038 the Australian Government has banned the use of all fossil fuels except for a few industries. This is a very clever policy that was implemented by the government because households were found to be emitting 13% of Australia's greenhouse gases. This policy combined with factories being shut down means that the greenhouse gases being emitted have been reduced by 78%. Further ways to reduce household emissions included the establishment of communal cooking facilities with large ovens where many meals can be cooked at once. By cooking things together it reduces the amount of greenhouse gases being emitted and helps to reduce global warming. We urge you to set up these campaigns to decrease the amount of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere. Failure to reduce the use of fossil fuels will result in the whole planet's eco-system becoming unbalanced and this could lead to mass extinctions of hundreds of species including humans.
The Australian eco-system should be in perfect balance so that there are enough insects to feed the birds but there still need to be enough insects to breed for the next year. The problem being experienced today in 2038 is that there has been a rise in temperature because of global warming and therefore we live in an unbalanced and ever-changing eco-system. For example, the rise in Australia's temperature has caused snakes to come out of hibernation early however this has severely reduced the numbers of native Numbats as the numbat had not prepared its burrow to be snake proof this early in the year; therefore this resulted in a massive rise in species of termites, the numbats main food source. Because the eco-system is not yet in a new balance everything is changing. One of the results of the unsettled eco-system is that we have fewer sheep but more pigs and foxes. This has changed that amount of food available to humans and is making it more likely that humans will run out of food and this will cause the extinction of humans. So we need to educate people on the reality of what will happen when global warming occurs.
As a member of the WWF of the future I beg you to educate people on the importance of the Australian environment. I implore you to urge people to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the environment, to use recycled water and to find cleaner ways to produce products. It is your job as CEO of WWF to educate people about what is happening to the planet and its inhabitants and to prepare for the future. It is vital that you teach people the error of their ways because if you do not your world will end up the same as ours today. A world where there is no technology, where food is scarce and, even more so, water. A world where pollution surrounds us, a world of misery. It is up to you to teach people what is right and what is wrong so that they can save themselves from a life of despair. Give my children the chance to experience life and the world the way it was meant to be, give them the chance to walk freely outside, look at the birds in the sky and see rain fall. Let them experience all of these things rather than thinking of them in their dreams. Allow the children of the future to live a life of joy and happiness rather than the life of pain and suffering that we currently live where you can't even walk freely outside.
