toefl essay #2: the change in environment

The 21st century has begun. What changes do you think this new century will bring? Use examples and details in your answer.

It is an undeniable fact that the human species is currently suffering from the rapidly worsening environment. This average temperature of this planet is elevating very fast, leading to the rise in the sea level, endangering the lives of countless people. Species of animal and plant are being extinct right at this moment. Because of the gravity of the current situation, the human being has started to realize the importance of preserving the environment. Therefore, the 21^st century is the time that we should focus on preventing the environment from being collapsed through means of government policy and preservation technology, and the change of the society.

 

To start with, government policies are expected to stop or at least slow down the global warming, as they serve as an effective way to change people’s behavior. Countless research results suggest that in order to protect the environment, we should change our lifestyle to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and food garbage emitted. However, even though many people know the gravity of the current environmental issue, they do not truly know how they should change their lifestyle to achieve that goal. This is why government policy is important, as it guides people to change their behavior efficiently by setting a standard that people should follow. Government policies which are now being made will therefore serve as a great way to slow down the global warming.

 

Additionally, many countries are now putting great effort to develop technologies that help save the environment. One example is the development of alternative energy sources, which is significant as they greatly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the use of energy. Other technologies like CCS(Carbon Capture and Storage), which is being developed to prevent carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere by storing them deep inside the sea, are also being developed. Furthermore, city systems and construction technology is now changing into a more eco-friendly way. As the majority of the energy spent by the human civilization is used by buildings and city systems, this is a major change that would help our civilization itself to be more eco-friendly. These technologies are still being developed and are expected to reach a level where they can be adapted to our daily lives by a few decades.

Lastly, the society itself is changing, which is a very hopeful phenomenon. The 20^th century was the ‘age of progress’, where we could not care about the environment, as we were so busy trying to feed ourselves. However, the society is starting to change, and people are now cognizant of the fact that the 21^st century should be ‘the age of preservation’. This is because the society is now more mature, as the advance of technology has freed many people from the dearth of basic supplies. Countless people are now advocating the importance of protecting the environment rather than to focus on economic growth, and some of them started to change their way of living to be a help to this planet. The society itself is now starting to be eco-friendly, which will gradually lead to a positive change in the environment.

The new century has started with a collapsing environment. However, we, the human species, still have hope of saving the planet and ourselves, and have started to seek for ways to bring that hope into reality. Hopefully, 21^st century will act as a new start for the human species, a start of the ‘era of harmony’ when human species can develop itself and preserve the environment efficiently at the same time.