Rifah's Climate Change Monologue Project

Climate Change Monologue Project

Part 1:

During this unit in World History, we learned and discussed about the global issue of climate change. We started by learning about what climate change is, how it began and why it is relevant. Climate change is basically the earth’s temperature getting warmer. This is mainly caused by human activities that require the release carbon dioxide and other gases into the earth’s atmosphere. This is relevant because climate change is negatively affecting and causing destruction to the earth and all those who inhabit it. In my monologue, my goals were to show the reality and negative effect of climate change first hand and actually make people feel upset about being the cause of it. I also wanted to inspire people to do something to bring change. I hope that my monologues reflect my goals and that you like them!

Part 2:

“Saving the Turtle”

Dear Diary,

Guess what? While I was on a predawn jog down the beach with my dad the other day, I almost stepped into this random hole in the sand. Since I’m only at the shore for a month during the summer, I had no idea what it was. When I took a closer look, I saw eggs inside it! My dad looked astonished from behind me. He told me that those were most probably sea turtle eggs. The eggs were so small! While my eyes skimmed the area, it landed on a huge dark shape just a couple steps away. I slowly stepped closer and it was a sea turtle itself! My excitement grew as I got even closer, but it was almost immediately gone. The sea turtle had a plastic bag, wrapped around its neck. Bits and pieces of the bag were around its mouth, indicated it had attempted to eat some of it. Now it looked too sick to move. I motioned my dad over and he examined the turtle. He told me he was going to contact a sea turtle rescue team and told me to wait right where I was. I softly brushed my fingers across the turtle, trying to comfort it. I’ve never felt so bad. This honestly could’ve been anyone’s plastic bag. God knows it could’ve even once been mine. When the rescue team finally came, they took the turtle away for treatment and told us they’d send us updates about its health. As soon as I got home, I did my research on sea turtles. Turns out, its not only the trash in the water that’s been harming them. It’s also climate change, a topic from last year’s history class. I didn’t really care about it then, but this has truly opened my eyes. Now I care beyond measure and I want everyone else to care too. I’ve been up all night waiting for their call, it still hasn’t come.

“Too Late”

Dear Diary,

He’s dead. We got the call late at night, a whole day after we found him. They said that he was actually doing good when they first brought him back. In fact, he was getting better fast. Then the next second, he was gone. They said cases like this were probably the most heart breaking. They were absolutely right. I felt numb after I hung up and still do. I wish that I could do something, but there’s nothing I can do to bring him back to life. I remember so vividly, touching its slippery skin, looking into it’s glassy eyes, feeling its nervous heart rapidly thump. Now, its skin is no longer slippery, its glassy eyes are never to be opened again and it’s heart will not beat again. The rescue team informed me that the turtle was already half dead before it ate the plastic bag and they had confirmed my suspicions. This wasn't just a tragic death, it was a murder. It was insane to think, that I and just about everyone else played a part in the murder of this animal. The rising sea waters, rising temperatures, and so many other trends of climate are all things that are hurting them beyond repair, killing them even. We have to do something, right now. Or else we’ll be too late. Oh, what’s the use of asking? They haven’t done anything yet and probably never will unless... I guess I’ll have to do start the movement myself. I hope it’ll do at least the slightest bit of good.

“Let’s Make A Difference”

Dear Diary,

It’s been three months after the sea turtle’s death and I’m still not over it. To deal with my uncontrollable emotions, I've been putting all my effort into making sure an event like that never takes place. I started out by calling a couple of my friends over who had also agreed that climate change was an issue that we truly needed to shed light on before turtles became extinct. We started our mission by doing some research. Questions like ‘how does climate change affect turtles?’ needed to be answered before we could solve our problem. We learned that things like beaches where sea turtles nest were being eroded by rising sea levels, leaving little space for their eggs. Also, the rising temperature can be harmful to sea turtles too. The temperature of incubation establishes the sex of the egg. When the eggs are incubated in a warmer temperature, they are more likely to be female sea turtles. This will create an unequal ratio of male and female sea turtles. These are a few of the many problems they will face due to climate change. To solve this problem, we decided to get back in touch with the turtle rescue team to see what we could accomplish together. We've decided to hold a discussion at the next town council meeting, talk about our plans for the future and get feedback from the public and our community. We felt like our community was a good place to start, and we’d slowly build ourselves up and change the world. As I looked around the room at all of the hearts poured into this movement, I felt a little relieved. Maybe we really could save the sea turtles.  

Part 3:

Password to watch video: climate