This article is the fifth and final one out of five, featuring stories about how teachers and their students relate to climate change.

A little story about the big trouble – Climate change

Desislava Tsokova – chemistry teacher, Vocational school “Asen Zlatarov”, Vidin – Bulgaria

The following video has been created to teach students about global warming.

In the following, you can read the transcript of the video:

• Did you hear the news, hurricanes, floods, droughts, snow in areas where it never rained. This weather has gone wrong.
• That’s all about global warming.
• How so? About all this?
• Yes and for many other things.
• What is this global warming, are we approaching the sun?
• No, listen now. Our mother nature existed long before we humans appeared. Plants and animals, water, air, sun, land used to live in harmony. The water vaporized from the sun and fell back to the ground, like rain, large quantities of fresh water were stored in the high mountains and poles. From the rains and winds, the rocks were crushed, where there were plant and rotting remains, so the soil was formed. The plants with their roots made the soil healthy and protected it from weathering, providing moisture and nutrients. Animals and plants found their habitats and distributed, according to their preferences for water, sun and food. The presence of predators regulated the quantity of animals, and hence the plants. The planet kept its inhabitants. The sun rays fell to the ground, then reflected back into space. Some of these rays encountered molecules of so-called greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, in the atmosphere, and returned to the ground. Thus, the temperature of the earth’s surface was kept within limits that provided optimal living conditions in the relevant geographic area.
• And where does the carbon dioxide come from?
• Animals, as well as volcanic eruptions in the atmosphere, released carbon dioxide, its quantity was regulated by the plants that absorbed it and transformed it into matter, and released into the atmosphere the oxygen needed for the life of other living creatures. This kept the balance in nature, everyone took, but also gave something useful in return. These is the circle of water, carbon, nitrogen and others.
• And global warming?
• When humans appeared, they took full handfuls of nature, the more they evolved, the more they forgot that they were part of this nature, and in order to live well, they must keep it. As more industrial development progressed, more and more factories and cars appeared. They emitted a large amount of carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. At the same time, people cut more and more trees, so the amount of carbon dioxide increased a lot. As I said, it is a greenhouse gas and it closes more and more windows in our atmosphere and the sun’s rays remain on the ground, so the average temperature on the ground increases by several degrees.
• Well, it’s not scary that it will be a few degrees warmer.
• It changes many things. The glaciers and the ice of the North and South Poles are melting, and the level of the world’s ocean is also rising. This can lead to the disappearance of coastal areas under water. Also, the snow caps of the mountains feed many rivers of water, when they disappear, rivers also disappear, and then the other water basins into which they flow. Climate of the continents is determined by the ocean air masses. Changing temperatures leads to the formation of hurricanes that cause a lot of damage. With climate change, some plants and animals are spreading to new areas where they are not characteristic and where they have no natural enemies. This disturbs the balance in nature. A chimney of the TPP, a little more carbon dioxide triggers the domino effect and even the effect of the butterfly.
• It’s good that there are no big factories in my town, neither thermal power plants, so we’re safe.
• You are wrong, the atmosphere is one for the whole planet, and the air masses are moving everywhere, and the sand of the Sahara is found all the way to the north pole. The planet and the air are one for all, and we must keep it with equal responsibility, so it is important that all countries together take care of nature, and if someone does not follow the rules, the consequences will be for everyone.
• Sounds scary and dangerous. We will destroy the home we are living in. So we have to live again in the Stone Age?
• No, we just have to live wisely and look for new sources of energy that do not emit carbon dioxide.
• Like solar panels?
• Yes and wind farms, water, tidal, bioenergy, geothermal energy. We must preserve nature, not recklessly cut down forests, but plant new trees, live wisely, appreciate nature and pass it on to our children.
• You are telling very interesting things, I did not think about how we change so many things that come back against us and what will happen after tomorrow …
• I will look for more information on these issues and I will be more responsible. Thanks.

The video featured in this post is owned by the author. The cover image is retrieved from: https://pixabay.com/en/lighthouse-sea-mood-clouds-2104591/

Tags: Bulgaria, climate change