Lowering College Tuition

Should College Tuition Be Lowered?

Is there a way we can make everyone a little less stressed out? College tuition is one of the top reasons why kids are stressed out. College tuition around the world should be lowered because everyone would have the same opportunities for jobs and teenagers would have less stress. Everyone deserves an education, and everyone would benefit from the youth being educated and prepared for the world. 

Teenagers all around the world that cannot afford to attend colleges do not have the same opportunities as the people that are able to. According to trade-schools.net, young adults in the United States earn 57% more if they have a bachelor’s degree than if they only had a high school diploma. Although having a high school diploma can get you good jobs, lots of higher level jobs require a higher level of education that only a college could provide. The Imagine America Foundation states that one of the top 5 reasons some kids do not attend college is because they are either unable or think they are unable to afford the tuition. More people would consider going to college if they noticed a price reduction. Also, when these students get jobs with higher salaries, they are able to pay off the student debt they possess, which takes years for people to pay off. 

Lowering the prices of college would also encourage more people to get their master’s degree or higher. Obviously, taking the extra year or more of school would be more challenging, so for the amount of money you are spending, some people are hesitant. In 2018, around 21% of people had their master’s degree, and this number would only increase with prices that allow more people to learn the necessary material. More people with their master’s degree would have these higher paying, advanced jobs, and also create a high educated generation. People living in destitution would be able to take their family out of miserable conditions if they were able to attend college and get a stable job to support their family. Everyone benefits from it, so more colleges should look into the idea of lower tuition costs. 

Students not only benefit from higher paying jobs, but they would also have less stress. The American Psychological Association released the result from a survey that students during the school year are more stressed. Tuition is one of the main causes of stress in students, so lowering the price of this financial burden would help relieve stress in thousands. According to the 2010 American College Health Association National College Health Assessment, more than 25% of students reported that stress lowered their grades. Student families are already paying an absurd amount of money for their education, and it is deteriorating their performance in school. A student with poor grades would only get more stressed about bettering their grades, and also may consider dropping out. To conclude, the stress from tuition only brings more stress to students.

With all considered, the wise decision would be to lessen tuition costs for the benefit of students, families, and colleges. In a survey according to The Hechinger Report, seven in ten parents eliminated colleges from their children’s consideration because of costs. Lowering the cost used to only be a dream, but now tuition free schools are becoming a reality.

Works Cited

“70 Percent of College Students Stressed about Finances.” 70 Percent of College Students Stressed about Finances, 30 June 2015, news.osu.edu/70-percent-of-college-students-stressed-about-finances/.

A., Teresa. “Why College Tuition Should Be Free or Lowered?” Letters to the Next President, 7 Nov. 2016, letters2president.org/letters/13193.

Beelineweb.com. “Should College Be Free? Here's What You Need to Consider.” Trade, Trade-Schools.net, 5 Feb. 2019, www.trade-schools.net/articles/should-college-be-free.asp.

“Free College - Top 3 Pros and Cons.” Free College - Top 3 Pros and Cons, ProCon.org, 19 Mar. 2019, www.procon.org/headline.php?headlineID=005432.

“Making College Debt Free for All Americans .” Making College Debt Free for All Americans , 8AD, martinomalley.com/policy/make-college-debt-free/.

Addictions Contender: The Opioid Epidemic

Addictions Contender: The Opioid Epidemic

By:Jacob Haerer

The opioid epidemic is responsible for 130 American deaths each day, which is triple the average number of murders on a daily basis.  This epidemic will not hesitate to take a helpless victim into it’s evil and manipulative hands, and cause irreversible damage. The opioid epidemic is defined by the National Addiction Center as ,“the growing number of deaths and hospitalizations from opioids including prescriptions, illicit drugs and analogues.” This means the danger of addiction to opioids is growing. With the number of people addicted to opioids growing, an increase of death and illness will occur. The opioid epidemic is a national crisis in the United States, which results in increased crime, mental deterioration, and leads to major health issues that could lead to death. 

Crime Resulting From Opioid Use

Opioids affect the brain in a multitude of ways, causing addiction as well as many other neurological and psychological issues in a person. This is what gives people the motivation to commit crimes. This increased crime is due to the inability to properly make decisions and judgements.  The National Institution of Drug Abuse says this inability to make proper decisions is due to the opioid drug attaching to inhibitors in the brain, which damages memory and judgement making skills. These inhibitors then become dependant on this drug, and cause people to seek out a way to obtain the drug.

When a person is addicted enough, they will stop at nothing to get that drug, which is when crimes are committed. It is common knowledge that drugs will affect the way people function on a day to day basis.  What most people do not know, is how much of the crime committed in the United States is due to opioid addiction. The Opioid Help Website shows a very alarming  statistic stating how much crime is actually committed due to opioid abuse.  Opioid addiction is responsible for 20.7% of the crime committed in the United States, which is about 500,000 crimes per year.  And to add to this, familydoctor.org describes symptoms such as “poor decision making” and “abandoning responsibilities”.  These symptoms match the way one would expect the mind of a criminal to work.  The Surgeon General puts forth a good point, law enforcement must get involved to resolve this epidemic, not to arrest and detain, but to work for rehabilitating through education.  Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams says, “Health advocates must involve businesses and law enforcement organizations—they have witnessed the negative effects of opioids and have a strong interest in helping end the epidemic. Educators and the faith-based community have unique touch points and resources that can be brought to bare for prevention and treatment efforts. We must listen to all communities affected by the opioid crisis—speaking with them, versus at them, leveraging their strengths, and addressing their priorities.” The symptoms are clear, the statistics are there, putting more time towards research about this epidemic, will not only decrease crime in the United States by about twenty percent, but it will also preserve the mental health of people addicted. 

Mental health Issues Caused By Opioid Addiction

Mental health plays a very important role in the day to day life of everyone, and it is necessary for a person to have good mental health to live a happy and long life. The addiction to opioids will absolutely destroy a person's mental health. With the addiction of opioids, comes an unhealthy and destructive mental state that will ultimately ruin the rest of a person's life. Extreme anxiety is one catastrophic result of opioid addiction. The website familtdoctor.org says that anxiety attacks are a direct symptom of the use of opioids. The article also says that insomnia is linked with the use of opioids. Insomnia is when a person is unable to fall asleep, having insomnia can cause major anxiety disorders.  Anxiety is well known to be one of the biggest problems in society, along with depression.  Depression can result from opioid addiction, and a person is at a higher risk of depression if opioid abuse is

present. Addiction to opioids is undoubtedly linked to bipolar depression and general depression.  Psycom.net shows a disturbing statistic about depression and suicide as a result of Opioid abuse.  48% of people on heroin, which is a morphine based drug, experience depression.  35% of people on the opioid heroin commit suicide. That is a statistic that should definitely be taken into account when discussing the safety of opioid use in any form. The terrifying part of all this is not only the lifechanging mental illness, but the fact that apart from physical damage, this drug can leave someone in so much mental turmoil, that a person can get themselves to commit suicide. Death is not only a result of physical illness, it is even a result of mental illness in this scenario. 

Physical health Issues as a Result of Opioid Abuse

Drugs as a whole can take a toll on physical health.  People call drugs including opioids “unhealthy” all of the time with the growing epidemic that is occurring right now. The real question is, do people really know what opioids do to the human body? The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states, “In 2016, we lost more than 115 Americans to opioid overdose deaths each day,

devastating families and communities across the country. Preliminary numbers in 2017,  show that this number continues to increase with more than 131 opioid overdose deaths each day.” What causes these deaths is even more alarming.  drugabuse.gov talks about how a very popular opioid, heroin, reacts and damages the brain in ways that could be irreversible. This morphine based drug attaches to a person's brain receptors, and cause a rush of dopamine, which is the hormone for happiness. This all sounds great, but what actually happens is this rush of happiness blocks pain receptors in the body and prohibits them from going down the spinal cord, therefore, making it nearly impossible for a person to know if they are injured. This is not the only immediate after effect. Another very concerning effect of opioid use is intestinal bloating. This is common after one consumes a lot of sodium, except this time it isn't sodium, its opioids. These short term effects are all very severe, but the long term effects are even worse.  Safetynetrecovery.com, states the long term effects of opioids, one of which is a result of slowed breathing. What happens is when  breathing is slowed as a result of taking an opioid, not enough oxygen is getting to the addicts brain. This website says when oxygen is decreased in the brain a coma can result. Once a person falls into a coma, it is hard to tell if a person will ever come out of one. Even if a person does come out of an opioid related coma, permanent brain damage is almost unavoidable. All of these health issues can be caused by an overdose, which is when all receptors have been blocked in the body making the body unable to perform other tasks, or just over time. All of these health issues should not be taken for granted when prescribing or choosing to take an opioid and research should be conducted to expand the health effects of opioid use. 

How can this Issue be Resolved?

The opioid epidemic is raising crime and leading to mental and physical illness. This epidemic must be stopped by enforcing dosage laws, setting up rehab centers and research safer types of painkillers. The facts are clear, 20% of crime is committed because someone is under the influence of drugs or opioids, depression and anxiety is high in people on opioids, and addiction can lead to health issues which can eventually lead to death. The answer to this epidemic is complex but can be achieved: research, educate and reform. Research is important, it is essential to know the endless effects of this drug on the human body, and educate others about the issue. It is essential that after these steps are taken, reform is made, including altering prescribed dosage laws and penalties for doctors who over prescribe, or for those who take or sell the drug. Only if significant action is taken, will the opioid epidemic be resolved.

Bibliography

Primary sources: 

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"Overdose Death Rates The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)." 

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"Opioid Addiction and the Criminal Justice System | CSG ...." https://csgjusticecenter.org/nrrc/opioid-addiction-and-the-criminal-justice-system/. Accessed 28 Oct. 2019.

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"Opioid Addiction - FamilyDoctor.org." 26 Feb. 2019, 

https://familydoctor.org/condition/opioid-addiction/. Accessed 20 Oct. 2019.

 "Depression and Opioid Abuse - Psycom.net." 25 Nov. 2018, 

https://www.psycom.net/depression.central.opioid.abuse.html. Accessed 20 Oct. 2019.

"National Institute on Drug Abuse." https://www.drugabuse.gov/. Accessed 20 Oct. 2019.

  

"Safety Net Recovery | Sober Living Facilities Near 

Atlanta."https://www.safetynetrecovery.com/. 

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The Truth About gun Violence in America

The Truth About Gun Violence in America

Each year thirty-six thousand Americans are killed by guns, which is an average of 100 per day. Over the past decade, gun violence in the United States has increased. Since 2012, there have been at least 2,240 mass shootings in the United States. In 2017, deaths by gun violence had reached its highest with 39,773 deaths that year. There have to be stricter laws on owning and operating guns because homicides and assaults kill thousands each year, suicide is the leading cause of gun deaths, and there are too many unnecessary gun injuries and deaths.

Homicides and assaults kill and injure thousands each year. One-third of fatalities caused by gun violence is due to homicide. Some of the greatest gun homicides are school shootings. One of the most famous school shootings in the United States occurred on April 20, 1999, when two

Outside Columbine High School. 

students named Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot and killed twelve students and a teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado. In the past couple of years, there have been many more school shootings including Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The United States gun homicide rate is twenty-five times higher than in other high-income countries. An average of 12,830 people dies every year due to homicide. The United States has a much higher gun ownership rate than other countries. This could be one of the main reasons why the United States gun homicide rate is much higher than in other countries. Gun homicides are mainly concentrated in cities and most prevalent in racially segregated neighborhoods with high rates of poverty. A majority of homicide victims are black Americans and they are ten times more likely to be killed by gun homicide than white Americans. In the article, Gun Violence in America, it states, "Firearms are the second leading cause of death for American children and teens and the first leading cause of death for Black children and teens." The United States also has a large number of gun assault injuries. Three-fourths of nonfatal gun injuries due to gun violence is caused by assaults. There are at least 76,258 assault injuries per year due to gun violence. Black males are fifteen times more likely to be shot and injured in assaults involving guns than white males. An average of one million women alive today have been shot or shot at by an intimate partner and about 4.5 million women alive today have been threatened with a gun by an intimate partner. 

Suicide is the leading cause of death by gun violence in the United States. Two-thirds of gun deaths are suicides and more than half of suicides in America involve a gun. At least eighty five percent of gun suicides end in death and access to a gun increases the risk of death by suicide by three times. The rate of suicides caused by guns is higher in states with high rates of gun ownership.

Number of Suicides in America

This puts more people at risk of committing suicide with a gun. Children with mental health and substance abuse disorders are at high risk of committing suicide with a firearm. Especially if a parent owns a gun and keeps it unlocked and loaded where a child could reach it. Over the last ten years, America’s gun suicide rate has risen steadily. In the article, Reducing Youth Firearm Suicide Risk: Evidence for Opportunities, it states, "Youth suicide rates between 1999 and 2014 have tripled for 10- to 14-year-olds and increased by fifty percent for 15- to 24-year-old youth." At least seventy-four percent of white males are firearm suicide victims in America. This is an alarmingly high percentage and it is slowly increasing.  

There are too many unnecessary deaths and injuries due to gun violence. There are at least 487 unintentional deaths and 18,362 unintentional injuries per year because of gun violence. A majority of unintentional shooting deaths involve people under twenty-four and are often shot by someone else that is their age. On the website, Gun Violence Statistics, it states, "Older adults are at a far lower risk of unintentional firearm death, and the majority of such deaths in adults are self-inflicted." There is also an average of 4.6 million children who live in homes where guns are unlocked and loaded.

Amount of people that are killed every day by gun v

This increases the risk of and unintentional death or injury by a lot and can cause serious damage. Another factor of unintentional deaths and injuries by gun violence is reckless behavior. It is most often seen by teens who want to show off to there friends. A teenager could have a parent that owns a gun or they own their guns, but they do not know how to operate it. This could cause serious damage and the teen could end up injuring or killing themselves or a friend. Teens feel the need to show off to their friends so that they can feel like they fit in or are cool. This could lead to some serious problems with teens that have guns present in their households. 

America needs to have stricter laws on gun violence. Assaults with guns are the leading cause of injuries per year and homicides with guns make up a great number of deaths too. Suicide is the leading cause of gun deaths in the United States. Finally, over 18,800 deaths and injuries are caused by the misuse of firearms. The United States should put in stricter laws that tell people that they can only own guns after a certain age. These laws should also say that all guns must be kept locked away and unlocked.

"Mass shootings since Sandy Hook, in one map - Vox." 26 Sep. 2019, https://www.vox.com/a/mass-shootings-america-sandy-hook-gun-violence. Accessed 22 Oct. 2019.

"Statistics - Giffords Law Center to Prevent ...." https://lawcenter.giffords.org/facts/gun-violence-statistics/. Accessed 22 Oct. 2019.

"Gun Violence in America ...." https://everytownresearch.org/gun-violence-america/. Accessed 22 Oct. 2019.

"Reducing Youth Firearm Suicide Risk: Evidence ... - Pediatrics." https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/141/3/e20173884. Accessed 22 Oct. 2019.

Columbine High School- "Colorado School District Won't Tear Down Columbine High ...." 24 Jul. 2019, https://www.voanews.com/usa/colorado-school-district-wont-tear-down-columbine-high-school. Accessed 27 Oct. 2019.

Are Smartphones Harmful to our Health? 

Do you ever just want to lay in bed and go on your smartphone?

Everyone has that feeling when they are laying in bed and watching television on their phone and they suddenly remember they have homework to do. They sit there and contemplate whether they want to start their homework or keep playing on their phone. It has been proven that kids are starting to become addicted to their smartphones. When kids develop an addiction with their phone, they start to only communicate through it. With all the social media apps that people are coming out with, kids create friends online and don't develop social skills as they should be at their age. Smartphones are harmful to our health by causing chances of cancer, the possibility of a tumor and hurting our mental health. 

Why our mental health is being abused due to smartphones.

Smartphones have become very popular over the last few years. There are currently 2.7 billion smartphone users in our world. Majority of those users have social media apps such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and many more. These social media apps allow the opportunity for kids to post almost anything they want. Teenagers use social media as a way to express how they feel, including  it being about someone or themselves and whether it is nice or not. Having the opportunity to post anything, kids don't know what is right or wrong and before they can realize the consequences, it is already out. When seeing a post on social media about you or your friends hanging out without you, it doesn't give you the best feeling. Teenagers are constantly going out and posting about it on social media. When seeing the post and not being included teenagers feel left out. With cell phones having social media apps on them, it is ruining teenagers' mental health. 

Is your sleep schedule being disrupted by your smartphone use?

When using a cellphone at night your ruining your sleep schedule. Cell phones give off a blue light, which your brain can interpret as the day time causing you to stay awake. The blue light ends the increase of melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone that should increase as you go to bed causing you to be sleepy. Also, if you keep your ringer on while your trying to fall asleep, you will hear all the alerts you get at night, causing you to look at your phone. If you hear see what text you got you are going to want to reply causing you to stay up longer. 

Can Cancer be an issue to using Smartphones?
There are numerous reasons as to why smartphones can cause certain types of cancer. The cell phone usage has increased rapidly, in 2017 there were over 400 million cell phone subscribers. Smartphones give off radio frequency radiation which is connected to humans by heat. Researchers have found  a connection between cellphones and cancer of the salivary glands. Although, there is not a high chance of getting diagnosed with cancer due to cell phones, not going on them as much can reduce the chances. There are studies of an increased risk of glioma which is a type of a brain tumor. Although studies have not shown that the radio frequency that cell phones give off cause cancer, they have said that the radio frequency is carcinogenic to people, which means it is possible to causing cancer. 

In all, Smartphones are dangerous to our mental and physical health. A major target is teenagers, because their brains are still developing and growing. The amount of teens using smartphones increases, as well as the chances of poor health.

Animal Testing

Animal testing is something that is very common in today’s society. In labs, animal testing is used to find new medications and new procedures to help humans with diseases or illnesses. Although, some think animal testing is wrong because it harms the animals and sometimes even kills them, others believe it has led us to to the development of many life saving treatments.

Animal testing puts animals in life threatening danger that they do not deserve. “Millions of mice, rats, rabbits, primates, cats, dogs, and other animals are locked inside barren cages in laboratories across the country.”

They sit in the cages in pain, loneliness, and frustration. Being locked in the cages drives some animals crazy. Some start to spin in circles or rock back and forth. The animals that are being tested on are usually bred to be tested on. 31% of animal testing involves the animal to be in moderate to severe suffering. Some of the experiments even require the animal to die as part of the testing. The estimated amount of animals being tested on in the U.S in just one year is 26 million. Also, over 100 million animals suffer and die due to animal testing every year.

It is known that animal testing has been around since 500 B.C. Some dogs are forced to eat pesticides, mice and rats are forced to inhale toxic fumes, and they also drop harmful chemicals into rabbits eyes which are very sensitive. There are non-animal methods that can be used such as cell and tissue tests and computer models. These methods are completely animal free. Instead of using animals to test medicines they use human cells and human tissue to test the medicine. Computer models also do not use animals at all, they are studied with human volunteers. These methods are completely cruelty free towards animals, but they are still effective methods that can lead to medical discoveries. 

The amount of animals harmed due to experiments is appalling. For every new pesticide chemical tested 10,000 animals are killed. There are 32 beagles tested on for government required tests.

There is also a 100% agreement standard between each country that has to be met in order to eliminate one single animal experiment. Sadly animal testing is required by the government for lots of everyday use products. Products like perfumes, painkillers, and fabric dye in clothing. Those and many more have to be tested on innocent animals before getting released onto the market for consumers to buy. Some of these experiments use thousands of animals per experiment, and others take two or three times to get the experiment right, but every time they start a new experiment they use a different animal.

Something like animal testing should be taken more heavily by the government, and there should be more labs that turn to the cruelty free methods. An animal does not have to suffer or die just because labs do not want to use the cruelty free method. When those methods were discovered all labs should have switched to them. Although some people think animal testing has led to many medical discoveries, there are new methods available now and animal testing is completely wrong.

 "Animal Testing - Humane Society International." https://www.hsi.org/issues/animal-testing/. Accessed 22 Oct. 2019.

 "California's ban on animal-testing could remake cosmetics ...." 10 Oct. 2018, https://america.cgtn.com/2018/10/10/californias-ban-on-animal-testing-could-remake-cosmetics-industry. Accessed 22 Oct. 2019.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: What has the world come to?

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: What has the world come to?

Garbage scattered across the ground. Source: Anthony John West

What if everyone in the world stopped recycling? Imagine walking down the streets and there being piles and stenches of rotting garbage. The ocean is being polluted with plastic waste and the air is contaminated with greenhouse gases. People today are throwing soda cans into the trash without any care in the world. But what they don’t know is that they are causing multiple disasters that is causing the world to slowly deteriorate. If you’re one of those people who walks past recyclable materials on the ground, you are one of the many factors that affect the environment. From the article TitleMax it states “Collectively, out of the 254 million tons of trash Americans can produce in one year, we recycle about 34.3 percent of it.” This goes to show that recycling alone takes about less than half of our trash waste than it should be. Recycling should become highly encouraged, because it avoids pollution by decreasing the collection between basic materials, creates jobs for people in the recycling industry, and saves energy from the manufacturing of materials.
People tend to forget or ignore the reasons of why the environment is in such crucial danger. When one morning they walk outside and notice the piles of disposable waste on the street and toxic smells, they will soon realize what the world has come to. The poisonous and toxic substances contaminating the air is pollution. Most people do not realize the harmful actions they caused to create pollution. Pollution can be prevented just by recycling. This is because the greenhouse gases would be less likely to happen and therefore less gases and oils are released into the atmosphere. From the article Boulder County it states “Recycling helps to reduce the pollution caused by the extraction and processing of virgin materials.'' With pollution, the environments for humans, water, and air are being contaminated with unhealthy substances that will make the environment harder to live in.

Recycling not only helps the environment but can also help the economy. A majority of people's lives are dedicated to saving the environment. They spend hours or even days cleaning the waste from the ground and disposing of them. Recycling can help create more jobs for people who believe in helping the environment. Not only can they get jobs by going outside and dispose of the materials, but people can also gain jobs in the manufacturing business. After materials are collected from locations, they are sent to a factory where they are sorted by the product they are made out of, thus creating jobs for people. In the article EcoCycle it states “By improving our national recycling rate to 75% by 2030, the U.S. could create 1.1 million new jobs.” This article acknowledges that the more recycling people do, the more jobs that it creates for people in the environment. By creating more jobs, more people can get involved in the community to help save their surroundings. The remains of material can be used in other manufacturer businesses. In fact, recycling can create more jobs than disposing and burning of the materials.

One of the many reasons people recycle is to simply save the environment, but what they do not know is that they are reducing the amount of energy from manufacturing materials. By exporting and converting usable materials causes much more energy than the manufacturing. By saving energy, it makes living in the environment much easier for people and animals. People depend on energy for living and functioning. Without energy, resources will be limited and survival will be almost unimaginable. A way to save energy is by recycling. Recycling’s process uses much less energy by the compounding of materials in factories because the usable materials are easily processed. Although that saving energy results in what materials are being processed, ultimately all recycling business save energy. From the article AGI it states “For many commonly recycled products, the energy savings also help to make recycling cheaper than extracting and processing raw resources.” This states that just by recycling, money will be saved and used for more reasonable circumstances rather than the destruction of materials.

Before and after recycling. Source: Facebook

Ultimately recycling can result in a better and healthy environment for people. By recycling, pollution will decrease and reduce the amount of harmful gases in the air. Recycling can create jobs for people in the facilities and make the community more involved in environmental activities. The energy from the recycling will be conserved and create better elements of life. Recycling is one of the best ways to make a positive impact on nature. It is essential to start recycling so that harmful substances are not released into the environment. A helpful way to remember recycling to prevent unhealthy substances is by the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This means to reduce the amount of materials in the natural environment. Reuse stands for reusing the item in a same or different way and recycle stands for taking the used materials and using it as new. So the next time you see waste in the environment, think of the ways your small step of picking it up will affect the world around you.

Works Cited:

"How does recycling save energy? | American Geosciences Institute."

https://www.americangeosciences.org/critical-issues/faq/how-does-recycling-save-ener

gy. Accessed 21 Oct. 2019.

"Reduce, Reuse & Recycle - Boulder County."

https://www.bouldercounty.org/environment/recycle/reduce-reuse-recycle/. Accessed 22 Oct. 2019.

"The Trash One Person Produces in One Year - TitleMax."

https://www.titlemax.com/discovery-center/lifestyle/trash-one-person-produces-year/. Accessed 22 Oct. 2019.

"Zero Waste Creates Jobs - Eco-Cycle."

https://www.ecocycle.org/zerowaste/jobs. Accessed 22 Oct. 2019.

"Solving Microplastic Pollution Means Reducing, Recycling." 12 Nov. 2018, 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/solving-microplastic-pollution-means-\

reducing-recycling-mdash-and-fundamental-rethinking1/. Accessed 22 Oct. 2019.

 "Waste - 5.4 Hong Kong Waste Recycling Statistics." https://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/misc

/ehk02/html/en/ch5/5_4.html. Accessed 23 Oct. 2019.

 "He Started Small, But The Impact Was Huge! | The Rainforest ...." https://blog.therainforestsite.greatergood.com/simple-huge-dutch-recycling/.

Accessed 23 Oct. 2019.

Are Humans the Cause of Extinction?

Over 150 million animals are killed just for food around the world every day which leads to  56 billion land animals being killed every year in the United States alone. Humans not only kill animals for food but if you have ever been to a zoo you are almost playing a role in the extinction  of animals. In zoos they keep animals in captivity and cages much smaller than the areas they would originally live in for entertainment purposes. Humans are the cause of the extinction of animals due to deforestation or ruining of animals habitats, keeping animals in captivity, and hunting/ poaching or killing them for food.

One cause of extinction is humans ruining the habitats that animals live in, or deforestation. Approximately 200,000 acres of forest are cleared every day for people needs such as housing and goods which is equal 139 acres each minute.  While rain forests contain about 50% of the worlds wildlife population, about 100 species from the rain forest are killed each day due to deforestation. It is proven that in about 100 years there will no longer be rain forests left on earth which means most of Earth's wildlife population will be gone due to deforestation. Every year over 90 million tons of paper is used, which would be about 700 pounds of paper products used by each person alive, with each pound of paper it requires about 8 trees to be cut down which lowers the space of animals habitats.

Deforestation, Photo taken by Live Science.

Along with trees getting cut down coral reefs are also slowly being destroyed by people. Coral reefs are slowly being bleached from air pollution and careless tourist. The coral reefs are a major part of fish and other marine creatures lives, and provide food for many of the animals. Some ways to lower or prevent the amount of deforestation is, one, lowering the amount of paper you use by paying bills online and using more online resources such as online newspapers. Recycling paper also reduces the amount of trees being cut down or deforestation throughout the world. 

Every year around 200,000 different animals are put into zoos and parks for the entertainment of people  Throughout the world there are over 10,000 zoo’s each having about 500 to 3,500 animals, out of those 200,000 animals 3,000 to 5,000 of the healthy animals are killed or slowly being killed from kept in small enclosures.In zoos animals have a sufficiently less amount of space than they would in the wild,  one example is at Sea world, in the sea world parks, the parking lot is bigger than the enclosure for the massive killer whales to live in.

Also, ”Tigers and lions have around 18,000 times less space in zoos than they would in the wild, Polar bears have one million times less space”(freedom for animals). The more and more animals put into zoos the less animals there will be in the wild to reproduce. Some zoos may help animals but after they heal them, most of the time they do not release them back into the wild and keep them for entertainment. One way to prevent this crisis from continuing is by not buying tickets to places such as Sea world.

Approximately 30,000 species per year are being driven to extinction and one of the leading causes of their extinction is hunting and poaching. Every year an estimated 100 million animals are killed by hunters. Today animals are illegally hunted for money, overall Illegal hunting  brings in approximately $20 billion dollars every year. One of the most common animals becoming extinct are elephants. Everyday there are approximately 96 African elephants killed for their ivory which means about sixty percent of elephants deaths are from poachers. Today there are less elephants born than the amount of elephants that are killed for ivory.

Another popular animal that is going extinct from poaching is the rhinoceros. Everyday day an average of three rhinos are killed by poachers. At one point there was dozens of different rhinoceros species but only 5 of those species remain today.  Some other animals going extinct from hunting as well are the wild dog, and lion. “A century ago wild dog packs in Africa typically consisted of approximately 100 members. Now the average pack size is 10”(American museum of natural history). “Africa’s lion population has decreased in size by approximately 42 percent during the past two decades.(african wildlife foundation). Three of the main ways to prevent animal hunting is by signing petitions, making donations and volunteering. 

The problem of extinction does not only affect animals but it also affects people and the way we live. People are causing extinction by ruining animals habitats and cutting down trees. People also place animals in zoos and place them in captivity. Animals are also put at risk with the high hunting and poaching rate. With these problems continuing the rate of extinction will continuously increase.

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https://www.da4a.org/sport.htm . Accessed 4 Nov. 2018.

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