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Striking a Balance – Rose Oats

white clouds over the sea

 Rose Oats, 12 years old, Dunedin North Intermediate, Dunedin 

I got involved in the Science Journeys project because I love animals and nature and I really don’t want them to disappear. It makes me really sad hearing that lots of animals are threatened because of rising temperatures, and that they have to do crazy things which aren't natural for them. I want to spread the word to other people and convince them to try to do their little bit for the world.  

When the team split into three different groups that would each work on different parts of the exhibition, I chose the ‘actions’ group because I feel like this is about actually doing small things that are going to make a difference. I feel that just telling stories and saying that there is hope isn’t enough, we need to act. Action doesn't have to be big to make a difference. I think it just has to be lots of small things. If lots of people are doing lots of small actions it might collectively turn into a big action. 

I want people to know that climate change is a huge deal and that it is real! Scientists were correct about the warnings about an inevitable pandemic, so let this be a lesson to the world that we should be listening to the scientists! During the world-wide lockdown, the environment showed signs of recovery with a large drop in pollution levels temporarily seen in some cities.  Now is an ideal opportunity for world leaders to rethink the way we rebuild an eco-friendly society. Climate change is already causing a lot of damage to the world and will be unbearable in the future if we don’t do something about it now. We were the ones who created this problem. We changed the climate of the earth without even thinking about it, so we can change it again to the way it used to be, we just need to start.