This is a guest post from Amy Swearngin, a sophomore in home school in Missouri.

This summer was painfully hot. I remember stepping outside and feeling a rush of heat engulf me. It was only in the early mornings when I could leave the house and feel comfortable, but that didn’t last long. The temperature would rise even earlier than usual on a summer day and that definitely kept me inside for most of the time.

Some days it was dangerous to even stay outside for too long because of the effects it can have on people and animals. I couldn’t even turn the faucet on cold without the water coming out warm. My mom told me this is because the pipes are hot, which causes the water to warm up along with them. If you compare this summer’s temperature to last summer’s, I’ll bet the changes are pretty big. I can guess that just by how I felt this entire summer.

Things need to change around here, because I know for a fact that no one wants another summer like this one. And it will probably be even worse next year, if that’s possible.

I used to think that the climate changes wouldn’t have much of an impact on our future. I used to say to myself, “It’s no big deal. People are way too worried about this.”

Well now I think it is a big deal. And now I’m one of the many people in the world who is worried. It’s amazing to think that if everyone got even a little bit involved with this, things could change for the better.