In October of 2018, the United Nations released a report from the world’s leading climate scientists
warning that we (human beings) have only twelve years to dramatically slow the pace of climate change if
we want to avoid environmental catastrophe: flooding of coastal cities, wildfires, violent storms and
weather extremes, extinction of many species, dwindling food supplies, uninhabitable
land, etc. The problem is very serious and will require people around the globe tom accept changes to
their current lifestyle. For this essay, consider your part in this crisis. What are the ways in which your life
contributes to greenhouse gases?
And what could you do to reduce your carbon footprint? What are you willing to do, and why? If you were
to answer those three interrelated questions in a single carefully worded sentence, you would have a
thesis for your paper, one that could even suggest a structure for your essay. (This topic comes courtesy
of my colleague Dr. John Rietz.)
Sample Solution
