Ninety+Degrees

Ninety Degrees By: Alisa R.

The earth seemed barren as Apollo looked across the street. He stared sadly out his window, wondering if he would be able to play outside today. It all depended on the sun. If it was shinning too brightly, the metal and rock houses would heat up too quickly, causing the temperature to rise too fast. Everyone knew that once the temperature reached 90 ° it was too dangerous to be outside. If the heat did not fry your skin instantly, the sun would. Fifty years ago, global warming started heating the earth’s atmospheric temperature, which in turn caused the greenhouse effect. Apollo’s generation was now feeling the outcome of pollution and mistreatment of Earth from past generations. Sadly, most of Apollo’s life had to be spent indoors. The earth heated up very quickly because the ozone layer was only fifty percent of what it used to be. Apollo glanced at the glowing, green thermometer hanging on the window. It read 80 °. It was only 7:00 am, so he would have about an hour to enjoy the world he always missed. He pulled on his heat protective suit and hurried out the door. The air was still and sticky. Apollo did not dare look at the sun for fear of burning his eyes, even with his very powerful sunglasses on. He walked slowly, not knowing where he was going but walking just to do something. After walking several miles, Apollo reached the town center. Standing or kneeling in the bare dirt next to the many skyscrapers was the entire town. All the people were planting trees in attempt to reverse global warming, a sign of change. Almost all the trees on earth had been cut down, so there was too much carbon dioxide in the air. As trees grow, they help stop global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the air, and releasing oxygen into the atmosphere. Apollo slowly reached for the nearest tiny tree and started digging a hole. He placed the tiny tree in the hole and covered its roots with dirt. Maybe, in the near future, Apollo thought happily, I will be able to play outside.