Why Epstein Students Want Koalas to Live On

By: Molly Diamant

Imagine you are scrolling online, and you see a photo of a hurt wild animal. Would you be sad? You would you want to know how to help?

Some people might not realize that they are hurting different species through the choices they make. Epstein middle schoolers may have different opinions about climate change and animal extinction, but they all do not want koalas to not go extinct.

"I think [climate change is] really bad because all my favorite animals are getting hurt, and its really sad," Wren Woodman, a 6th grade student, says. Woodman is especially worried about koalas.

Woodman is not the only one worried about our planet and koalas. Noa Maman, also a 6th grade student, is concerned too.

"I think [climate change is] really bad and we should try are best to stop it. We also don’t want to kill the earth because we kind of live on it," Maman said, "I’m pretty sure, some of the animals like in Australia are going away, like the koalas and something like that."

Middle school students also have ideas about what they can do to help.

Woodman suggests, "We can protest and have signs that say “Save the animals.” Maman adds, "Use electric cars if you can or use your car the least amount you can, and recycle more."

Climate change is not just hurting koalas, it is hurting all the artic animals as well. Climate change is not just two words that mean nothing, it is actually hurting many species and environments.

Koalas live in Australia, and have faced many natural disasters. For example, the Australian bush fire in 2020. This is caused by climate change. NASA's scientific definition of climate change is "a change in the usual weather found in a place. This could be a change in how much rain a place usually gets in a year. Or it could be a change in a place's usual temperature for a month or season."

This is a pie chart of where climate change is effecting the most

As the world gets hotter, there will be more wild fires like the kind the destroyed a large amount of koalas in Australia.

Climate change has effected more countries than just the United States. As shown in this pie chart, climate change has effected six main countries and many others.

Climate change is caused by any type of pollution. That pollution is making the greenhouse gasses around the earth get thinner. Those greenhouse gasses are basically Earth's sunscreen.

As it gets thinner, the sun can make our earth even hotter. Without the greenhouse gasses, we could melt. But people are working to stop this from happening through their choices by using electric cars, installing solar panels, and doing whatever they can to prevent items from ending up in the landfill. You can do that too.

It is as easy as putting your plastic water bottle into the recycling bin. You can even recycle an old magazine that you do not use anymore. It is as simple as that!

So next time you hear about climate change, do not ignore it and say that problem is to hard to fix. See what you can do to save the world. You will be your own super hero.