August 1

Catherine August

Mr. N. Gwozdz

AP Language and Composition

14 February 2019

A Practical Proposition for Planet Earth’s Petrifying Predicament

The current health and stability of planet Earth has, unfortunately, deteriorated

throughout recent years, primarily due to the negligence of human beings. It is evident that

global warming is a colossal affair, as the temperature of the Earth is rising at nearly twice the

rate it was about fifty years ago (Forsberg). This rapid escalation of the rate at which global

warming occurs is undoubtedly induced by an exterior factor, that factor palpably being human

engagement in harmful activities that emit greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and

methane, that trap heat in the atmosphere.

It is common for humans to emit greenhouse gases from the combustion of fossil fuels in

cars, buildings, factories, and powerplants. Along with this, humans contribute to global

warming from landfills releasing methane, the digestive systems of grazing animals for human

agriculture, the incineration of polymers, and deforestation, which prevents trees from storing

carbon dioxide (“Climate Change”). If the Earth continues to warm at this distressing rate, a

copious amount of irreversible damages may occur, such as immense hurricanes, the melting of

arctic lands, and the sea level rising four feet by the year 2100, destroying coastal areas

(“Climate Change”).

Due to the severity of these issues, it is apparent that action must be taken to reduce

human contributions to global warming. Human causation for the increasing rate at which global
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warming occurs could be resolved by reducing the number of humans on the Earth, thus reducing

the vast amounts of problematic human activities from transpiring. Ergo, I propose that a certain

percentage of the human population should be eliminated in efforts to save the Earth.

To determine the exact percentage of humans to abolish, one must consider the obligation

of retaining enough humans as to not endanger or provoke mass extinction to occur within the

species. When considering the fact that the temperature of the Earth is rising at nearly twice the

rate it was about fifty years ago, it can be approximated that at least half, or even more, of the

human population should be executed to adequately solve the issue. By cutting the human

population in half, it can be assumed that the rate at which global warming occurs could also be

cut in half, returning the average temperature of the Earth to standard values from the past.

An immense advantage of this proposition includes the fact that it can commence in a

timely manner. With the population diminished to half of its original amount, prompt positive

outcomes will follow, including less fossil fuels being burned and less workers to initiate

deforestation, thus reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In doing

this, the rate at which global warming occurs would substantially decrease, allowing the Earth to

prosper just as it did formerly.

Therefore, due to all of the coherent advantages of this proposal, at least half of the

human population should be terminated immediately. The Earth is in dire need of help and the

most simplistic and supreme way of providing this help is through reducing the size of the

human population, thus reducing the troublesome human activities that contribute to global

warming. I have hope that there is still time to recover the Earth, and anticipate action in the very

near future.
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Works Cited

“Climate Change Causes: A Blanket Around the Earth.” ​NASA​, 5 Feb. 2019,

climate.nasa.gov/causes/.

Forsberg, Michael. “Causes of Global Warming.” ​National Geographic​, 14 July 2017,

www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/global-warming-causes/.