The official Student News Site of Dublin High School.

The Dublin Shield

The official Student News Site of Dublin High School.

The Dublin Shield

The official Student News Site of Dublin High School.

The Dublin Shield

Dirty Atmosphere

ABOVE%3A+Recycling+trash+cans+are+emptied+by+volunteers+after+school
Camila Huang
ABOVE: Recycling trash cans are emptied by volunteers after school

It’s winter season, but does it feel like it? Just a week ago, the weather was sunny and warm. Students on campus talked about how this winter felt like summer or spring. Have you ever thought about the reason behind this? The term “pollution” has been used numerous times everywhere, especially on the news, reporting that the amount of pollution emitted has been constantly increasing.

Pollution in fact, is the major cause of global warming as it emits CO2 (carbon dioxide) into the atmosphere, destroying the ozone layer that protects us from UV-B radiation (biologically damaging ultraviolet sunlight).  What are the consequences if we do not stop polluting? And what are some ways that we can help diminish pollution emissions?

“This Christmas did not feel like Christmas, and this winter does not feel like winter!” sophomore Alice Chu exclaims. “It’s not even cold!”

Global warming has been an issue for years. Due to global warming, ice from the North Pole has been melting and animals that live in cold weathers such as polar bears and penguins are in great danger.

Even though many people have joined organizations such as environmental defense fund (EDF) to help stop or at least slow down global warming, many others have still remained idle. If you are one of them, you should definitely come out and help the good cause that many organizations are trying to help. But if you are way too busy to do any extracurricular work or join any organization, there are still some very easy ways to help out.

A few simple ways of helping the environment and diminishing pollution are: to make sure to avoid littering around, to recycle, or to commute with friends or family to school, in other words, carpooling. The city of Dublin is very clean compared to other cities, but occasionally, there is still trash laying around on the ground.

“I moved from the city (San Francisco) to Dublin and here is so much cleaner than my old city,” junior Hannah Ye relates.

Recycling has also been quite successful in our community. Every other day, members of the DHS Interact Club stay after school to pick up recycling materials from each classroom and if you are looking for community hours, you can also join them after school to get community service hours and help the environment.

Commuting to school with friends or family members can help decrease the number of automobiles that emits huge portions of smoke/pollution.

“I bike to school everyday because I know it doesn’t harm the environment,” Henry Lin, sophomore at Dublin High, says. “It’s also a way of exercising and it keeps me awake for morning classes.”

Walking or biking to school would be even better as no pollution will be emitted. Some students in Dublin High have already been biking or walking to school and have been enjoying it very much!

So what are you waiting for? Hurry up and recycle this newspaper when you are done reading!