Change Edition – Positive & Negative Changes in the World

Covid-19 Changes

Since the pandemic started we have been wearing masks and, more recently, getting vaccinated. Now, 5-year-olds or older are eligible to get vaccinated. Some things have been changing and others have stayed the same. According to CNN, there are going to be stricter rules regarding Covid-19. Since there is a new Covid-19 variant, the US government officials want to take more precautions and will now begin requiring people who enter or come to the country to take Covid-19 tests more frequently (before and after entering the country). This may be because people are coming and going out of the country when they don’t know how Covid-19 is impacting other parts of the world. By doing more frequent Covid-19 tests, we can see who tests positive and who tests negative so that people who test positive can quarantine and avoid spreading the virus. So if you are feeling sick or not well, please make sure to stay home to keep others safe. This would not only help other people avoid getting Covid, but it will also help hospitals by keeping the number of people in hospitals low. Another policy change that is being implemented is that many places are now requiring that their attendees provide a full vaccination card or results of a Covid-19 test that are no more than 3 days old. This is so no one gets infected and people are safer, even with masks on. In Oregon, if you would like to go to a concert or another big event, you must show proof of your vaccination or a negative test result if you are 12 years old or older. 

Climate Changes

As time passes by, Climate Change itself is changing. According to The Washington Post, “In about 35 to 60 years, mountainous states are projected to be nearly snowless for years at a time if greenhouse gas emissions continue unchecked and climate change does not slow [down],” which means that in a few years if climate change doesn’t slow down or reverse its course, we in Oregon will no longer be having a lot of snow. This might happen because the Earth is warming up too fast to be able to maintain its snow because existing snow will melt and the atmosphere just won’t create more. Another big change that people started to notice in 1950 is that “Due to rising temperatures, the [Western US] region has already lost 20 percent of its snowpack,” which is causing an even bigger change today because temperatures are rising faster than ever due to human activity (i.e. not taking care of the earth well). It has also been reported that California, in particular, has been changing: “California’s climate is transitioning to a warmer setting in which historical relationships among temperature, precipitation, and runoff are changing,” according to a California Department of Water Resources report on the 2021 water year. As we know, California is a very warm state, but climate change has caused it to become warmer than it was before.