By FIONA MCQUAIDE – As a generation without much experience in the sort of problems, we are discovering currently, Gen Z’s are just sort of lost in this whole politics thing.

Now, some of the kids/teenagers in the junior high this age read the paper newspaper, like the Indiana Gazette… most of them do not. So, where do kids get their news?

Mostly our parents (or guardians).So when we learn about what is happening in the world around us, the news is sort of tinted with our guardians’ opinions of it all.

So how do junior high students grow their own opinions about politics, science, et cetera? By reading the news. 

If we could just adjust the way students learn these types of things, these problems would NOT occur. In times like these children like me have a hard time understanding what exactly is going on. This wouldn’t exactly be “hard”, it’s as simple as giving a kid a packet on presidency or, even class presidency. In these trying times, we MUST educate our current youth on the most important things, this type of opinion changes the world around them, and our world as we know it.

Now, like our parents, some news sources have strong opinions on things and it alters the way they broadcast their information. Sometimes, it becomes so unyielding, it isn’t even the news anymore… it’s just some random person’s ideas about how the country is being led, or why, “it wasn’t their fault”. Now, it has been a whirlwind…precisely the most confusing 4 years ever, but honestly. I think what this country was built on will stand its ground. I think in the end, every time,  America wins.

By ABIGAIL DE SALVO – The United States has been involved in many wars throughout history, and is known as the elite country when it comes to war.  For nearly two decades now, we have been at war in Afghanistan. The war started on October 7, 2001, and is still going on today.  It is currently the longest war in U.S. history.

The war started a little under a month after the 9/11 terrorist attack.  On September 11, 2001, Al Qaeda organized for four planes to be hijacked and flown into U.S. targeted places.  Two of the planes hit the twin towers, another hit the Pentagon in Washington, and the last crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  There were nearly 3,000 people killed in the 9/11 attacks. This attack gave rise to the war. The president of the time, George W. Bush vowed to, “win the war against terrorism”.

Currently, there are 13,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.  According to Washington Post, “The deaths bring to 14 the number of U.S. service members killed by hostile forces this year, surpassing the total of 13 killed in 2018. About 2,400 have died in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001. In July, two U.S. soldiers were shot dead by an Afghan army soldier who opened fire at a rural military base.” As of February 13, there have been 33 government forces killed, and 15 civilians killed in Afghanistan.

After nearly two decades of war, citizens may think, why hasn’t the war stopped?  Government officials have been giving hope to residents of the states, telling them the war is coming to an end.  Leaked documents suggest the Afghanistan War is unwinnable.  

Will this draw out to be the longest war in all history?  President Trump says, “I could win that war in a week”. President Trump also claims the country could be “wiped off the face of the earth”, but he did not “want to kill 10 million people.”  President Ashraf Ghani suggests the idea of Afghanistan and the U.S. being “grounded on common interests and mutual respect.”  

By MORGAN ADAMSON –Antarctica… known for its snow, wind, and ice. Judging by the continent’s changes, could that generalization soon come to a fiery end? Recently, the icy continent hit its record high temperature. Measuring in at 69.35 °F, temperatures growing in the area are not bizarre. 

“This is a record from only a single station, but it is in the context of what’s happening elsewhere and is more evidence that as the planet warms we get more warm records and fewer cold records,” says Steve Rintoul, a scientist stationed in the area of the occurrence. Scientists around the world are predicting that the record will be soon broken. This uprising could be caused by numerous things, climate change, global warming, and many other issues of the sort. The warming of the continent not only has local effects but affects us on a global scale.

Though this has been a developing problem, we are now starting to see significant effects on the climate and ecosystem of Antarctica. For example, the ice structures in the area thawing affect the temperature of the water, which severely damages the food chain. It affects the animals in the area, which influences the world and puts endangered species at a higher risk of extinction.

Due to the dangerously rising temperatures, the endangered species number is increasing more and more every day. Escalating numbers of species are jeopardized and their populations are rigorously declining. The Magellanic Penguins are some of these threatened groups. Their population is declining because of the elements changing rapidly. Antarcitca is experiencing severe rain and brisk rises in temperature which is very harmful to their egg and newborn bodies. This sadly ends in death for the bird and makes it hard for its society to be stable. The animals didn’t have enough time to adapt to the changing climate.

So the question is… what can we do about it? Though we all can’t travel to Antarctica to stop this, there are a few things we can do to at least make a small impact on the world around us. Using energy saving light bulbs, unplugging electronics, and using renewable energy resources are just a few things that can help this world-impacting epidemic. Many businesses and companies are promoting green ideas and helping to stop this. Only a few people doing these things makes a small change, but if we all do it, it will make a better future for the world ahead of us.

The changes to the climate may only be in a small area, but it will spread and change the world over time. The idea of global warming and climate change has been debated over for years, but this is a prime example of the world before us if we don’t do anything about it. Now is the time to think about this, and to help prepare for what’s ahead. It may only be some sea life and mammals now, but it’s the planet later.