3 Degrees
Newton, MA
2024, Junior, Interactive & Multimedia
Project Description: The website “3 Degrees” is an informative and fundraising organization that aims to halt global warming before it is too late. The 3 degrees symbolize a point where global warming damage could not be reversed. By providing information regarding global warming and the different effects it has with corresponding temperature increases, I want to help people be aware of what damage has been caused so far and what is to come. I started this organization after witnessing the effects of global warming in the community where my parents reside; as there were droughts, daily staples became harder to purchase, and people in need were unable to supply themselves with food. A program that helped mitigate this issue is the “Electric Hot Pot” program, a part of the #GoElectric initiative; by using electricity instead of gas, I aimed to create a safe environment for elderly people and the entire Earth as a whole. Below are the instructions for the website in specific. When you first enter the website 3-degrees.org, you will be at the home page of the website. There are four pages you can see on the top right bar: Home, #GoElectric, Sources, and Contact. When you scroll down on the Home menu, you will see the effects when the Earth warms by 3 degrees. The mission statement follows, and there is a short description of what global warming is. Then, there is a slideshow for the causes and effects of global warming. You can use the arrows on the left and right to look at different causes and effects when the temperature increases by a certain amount. There is an explanation of why global warming is not linear when you click the button “Learn More” below. You will then see a revolutionizing energy section, which directs to the #GoElectric page. At the bottom, you can click the “Take the Quiz” button to take a quiz on global warming. The #GoElectric page explains what the #GoElectric initiative is and the reasoning behind why I participated and initiated this campaign. There are some statistics and a link to a donation platform I created to fund electric hot pots for the local community. Then, you can learn about some steps you can take to “electrify” your life. The sources page lists the sources used in MLA 8 format. You can contact me by filling out the form in the contacts page.
Visit Website
Reflection
Reflection
My work on creating the organization 3 Degrees and a website for it was inspired by a devastating event in the local community where my family currently resides. In Geoje, droughts are rare in the winter and spring, with rainfall being very common; this makes Geoje an agricultural paradise. However, in the past two years, things have been different; there have been droughts, with the one two years ago being the worst drought in 50 years. Food production lowered, and demand was still high, making the price of daily staples such as rice skyrocket in price. Although this did not heavily impact my family, it did impact people in need. After these events, I connected what I learned in school about climate change with these droughts; these droughts were not natural but rather were caused by humans. I was shocked that we are about to reach a global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius before 2028, which could cause "extreme heatwaves, extreme rainfall events, and droughts; reductions in ice sheets, sea ice, and glaciers; accelerating sea level rise and ocean heating," according to the World Meteorological Organization. In addition, I learned that it is possible that we could reach global warming of 3 degrees Celsius before 2100, which will cause irreversible damage to Earth that would make Earth impossible to reside in. This shocked me; as a 14-year-old, I would be 90 years old in 2100; it is possible that I will witness a dystopian Earth if global warming continues to accelerate at this route. By finding 3 Degrees, I wanted to inform people about the potential dangers we could face in the future and how global warming is not linear; if the temperature increases by the same amount it has, which is 1 degree Celsius, the effects will drastically increase. By creating this project, I was proud of myself for taking ideas into action, something that I struggle with. However, I also felt and still feel worried about the future of the Earth; as I am more knowledgeable in the study of global warming thanks to the research I did for the 3 Degrees project, I now understand how drastically global warming can affect our community. I found this quote I heard since I was young very inspiring, and I want to share this quote with viewers of my website and participants of my initiative, "Now is the best time to take action."