2008 – Sixth Grade Third Place:

Alexis Block, California.

Is global warming the greatest challenge facing humankind?

 

One day, I was sitting in my office. It was a cold winter morning,
and I turned on the television to wath the morning news. A war had
just started, and already many Americans were dying. They said that
the war was supposed to last a long time, and that they would soon be
fighting in America. I began worrying about my two children, Bob and
Jane. Bob was seven, Jane was three.

The news then started talking about global warming, and that if
nothing was done, New York City would soon be flooded. Then I started
to think. Which would have the greater impact on society, the war or
global warming?

I dozed off thinking about which was the greater problem. When I
awoke, it was 2032, twenty-five years in the future. I was in my
office, which was bigger, and the news was still going on. The war
was still going on, too.

Realizing it was the future, I ran home, trying to make sure my
family was safe. As I was running, I saw that the road had not been
paved in a long time. There were not as many trees, and the trees did
not appear to be in very good shape. My wife was sitting on the
couch, and i noticed that she had lost one of her arms. I asked her
what happened, and she said she had been shot by one of our enemies in
the grocery store. They had to amputate her arm to save her body. I
asked her where Bob and Jane were, and I found that they had been
drafted and were fighting far away.

I was very confused. Then I remembered the last thing I was doing
before I arrived in the future. I was thinking about whether global
warming or world war was the greater problem. I asked my wife what
happened to global warming. She told me that we were able to reduce
the danger by technology. Where flooding was a problem, we built
walls. Where drought was a problem, we irrigated by building dams and
aquaducts. Climates always change, she told me, but we have the
ability to adapt.

Just then there was a knock on the door. A young man in a military
uniform and a solemn expression was there. He started speaking. "I
have bad news to tell you about Bob..."

I woke up startled. I had fallen asleep in my office in 2007. I
called home and my son Bob answered. I was relieved.

Now I realize that wars have greater impact on the world. If we are
constantly fighting, if we cannot make peace with other nations, we
will spend all our money for war. We have the ability to adapt to
global warming, but it is harder to adapt to war.

 

 

 

 

 

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