Climate Change

Has anyone near you talked about climate change? Have you ever wondered about why it hasn't snowed much this year? It is because of climate change!

Climate change is when the earth gets warmer. This is because of how we burn fossil fuels. The smoke from burning fossil fuels contains carbon dioxide. (Co2). Then, some of that carbon dioxide rises higher in the atmosphere and gets trapped as a layer in the atmosphere. That layer acts like an invisible blanket. Some of the sun’s incoming heat is reflected back into space, but some of the sun’s heat gets to the earth's surface. The heat is then trapped in the atmosphere by the carbon dioxide. This is what climate change is.

If the temperature continues to rise 2 more degrees Celsius, or 4 degrees Fahrenheit, the weather will go out of control, and go crazy. Floods and droughts will become more frequent and severe. Storm systems will become way more violent. Unexpected and unknown diseases will make people sick. Then, this world will become a very dangerous world to live in. We, as humans, will be lucky to even survive for more than three years!

How do we stop climate change? We have to stop polluting the air! We need to decrease the amount of carbon dioxide we release into the atmosphere, start using clean energy, like using solar panels, hydroelectricity, and wind energy. We also need to plant more trees, because trees absorb carbon dioxide and turn it into oxygen. We also need to use more public transportation. If we want to do some of this stuff, we must develop new technologies. We may also have to change our ways of life.

We also need to adapt to climate change. We need to find ways to survive in climate change. Climate change will cause glaciers to melt and ocean levels to rise, and the island people will be in danger. Their homes will flood. We need to rescue the island people and bring them to higher and safer places. We all need to build homes higher. We also need to control the floods. We need to build dams or think of other ways to stop the flood from reaching homes. Lastly, we will need more money for extreme weather and disasters. There will be more disasters and more heat waves as climate change persists. The government needs to save money to help the needy and rebuild houses after a disaster.

But what if climate change goes too far? What if the conditions on earth become way too wild? Then, the worst thing happens. We have to find a new habitable planet.

 Last but not least, in 2016, the United Nations (UN) signed the Paris Agreement. Many countries also signed this agreement to stop climate change. People around the world should work together to stop climate change.

Stop climate change!!!!!!!

My Desertification Project

Introduction

Have you ever wondered if YOUR city is under risk of desertification? Well, this is the perfect chance to find out! This tool is simple and quick, and provides a rough estimate of desertification risk! You can also compare the data of two different cities of your choice!

First Of All, What Is Desertification?

You might be asking, “what is desertification anyways, and why is it so important?” Well, desertification is the process in which semi-arid and arid areas become increasingly arid, with soil degrading so that agriculture becomes a challenge. This eventually results in the area becoming a desert. Keep in mind that it is NOT the expansion of existing deserts, but the loss of biological productivity in a given area. To learn more about desertification, you can simply find the article named “all about climate change and desertification.”

Project Goal

Provides a quick summary of desertification in the chosen city. It tells you how high the desertification risk is in the city, and aims to inform the user about desertification. ATTENTION: DESERTIFICATION SCORES ARE PURELY FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY! THE SCORES MAY NOT BE COMPLETELY ACCURATE.

Project Functions:

Live Weather and Two City Comparison:

This was only a test, and compares the live weather conditions of two different cities. It provides a very short summary of the comparison.

Climate Risk Dashboard:

Trend Arrows:

Analyzes temperature trends and provides a simple and clear summary of temperature and precipitation in the last 50 years. (Reminder: increase in temperature and decrease in rainfall is a big desertification indicator.)

Desertification Risk Score: (important)

Calculates the data from other sections in the Climate Risk Dashboard and provides a simple risk score of the two different cities of your choice. Gives a rating out of 6 points and has the following factors: warming trend, strong warming, drying trend, strong drying, extreme years, and rainfall volatility. (How stable the rainfall trends are)

1-2 points/6 points = Low Risk

3-4 points/6 points = Medium Risk

5-6 points/6 points = High Risk

DISCLAIMER: Risk score is not official; it is purely for educational and informational purposes. Data may not be accurate. (E.g. New York should not be at medium risk; it is supposed to be low risk.)

Hot and Dry Alert:

Analyzes data from the Top 5 Years section below to provide an alert: if at least 3 out of 5 hottest years  AND at least 3 of 5 driest years occurred after the year 2000, there will be an alert. It is also counted into the Desertification Risk Score.

Top 5 Years:

Picks out the top 5 driest and hottest years for both cities and puts them in rows. This section is very important, as it can show whether a city’s weather is becoming warmer and drier when the top 5 years are mostly past the year 2000.

Historical Temperature and Precipitation Graphs:

The temperature graph shows the average temperature for every year for two cities of your choice. It helps compare and visualize the difference between two different climates in two different places. If the line is clearly going up throughout the graph, this means that the city depending on the color of the line is experiencing a strong warming trend. If it is going down, it means that the city is cooling down and is probably not at risk of desertification.

The rainfall graph shows the yearly rainfall totals for the same two cities. It helps you to see the rainfall trends since 1981. 

Why Did I Start This Project In the First Place?

Last year, (2025) I took a trip to the city Wuhai in northern China with a group of my friends. I saw with my own eyes the desert that encircled the small city, and how hard volunteers had to work to treat the desertification. Scientists developed a grass called Juncao that was very easy to plant and could survive in the harsh desert conditions. The roots of the grass would help stabilize the sand/soil, and helped it retain moisture better. It also helped defend the sand against erosion and increased biodiversity. A volunteer worker explained to us that after they planted a large patch of the Juncao grass, they observed that many species moved back into the area. These species included various birds, insects, and even foxes. We helped them plant grass for three days in the blazing heat. It was a difficult experience, as some of my friends suffered from heat exhaustion in just a few hours of working. Over the course of three days, we helped them plant grass, collect data, and they taught us many things as well. This was one of the most interesting trips I’ve ever went on, and it gave me the inspiration to start this project. It made me realize how big of a problem desertification is, and that it is still possible to reverse it. If you want to learn more about my trip to Wuhai, you can read the story I wrote in the journal called “trip to Wuhai and planting grass” and search up Juncao to learn more about the technology! 

Challenges I Came Across:

I came across many challenges while making this tool. One of the most challenging things was the testing phase. After I had added several basic features like Extreme Years, Two City Historical Data Comparison, and the search bar, my old data source broke down. There was a limit to how many API requests I could use per minute, hour, and day. This became annoying since I hit the limit every one or two tests. I ended up removing all of the extra features, including the search bar. I could only test a few preset cities to limit API requests. Still, I frequently hit the limit. After a while, I was forced to switch from Open Meteo to NASA Power. This was a frustrating and time consuming process. First, I switched, and had to make a new account. Next, I slowly added back my Risk Score, Extreme Years, and Two City Comparison. It took me a long, time, but I was eventually able to solve the problem. I hope you enjoy this tool, as I worked so hard on it!                        

Conclusion

In conclusion, this project is something that I am very proud of, and I hope you enjoy using the tool. I spent hours coding it, refining it, and debugging it. I learned a lot about desertification in the process of doing this as well. I hope you will learn as much a I did while using this tool, and big thanks to the volunteers at Wuhai for the tour and inspiration.