River loved to explore the banks of the quiet creek near her town. But lately, the dirt felt too cracked, and the water level was low. One sunny afternoon, she spotted something shiny on a half-submerged rock. It was a giant sea turtle, blinking slowly. “Hello,” she whispered.
The turtle opened one eye and sighed a long, bubble-filled sigh. “It’s too warm, little one. Much, much too warm.” “Are you Nereus? My grandmother told me stories about a talking turtle who knew the oceans,” River asked. Nereus nodded. “The oceans are worried, River. The whole world is wearing a blanket that’s too thick.”
“A blanket?” River tilted her head. Nereus explained that the Earth has a wonderful, invisible layer of gases that keep us cozy—like a thin sweater. “But when humans burn too many things, like gasoline and coal, we send too much carbon into the air. That extra carbon makes the sweater thicker and thicker. That’s global warming.”
Nereus flicked his flipper toward a large illustration of an iceberg floating next to them. “That extra heat is melting the ice caps far away. When the ice melts, the sea level rises, and my icy friends—the polar bears—lose their homes. The ocean gets too warm for many creatures, too.”
“But what can we do? We are just small,” River asked, feeling a little overwhelmed. Nereus smiled gently. “Small acts make big waves, River. Think about the smoke. How do we stop putting extra carbon into that thick blanket?” He pointed to a small seedling growing nearby.
“Trees are Nature’s cleanup crew!” Nereus declared. “They breathe in that carbon gas we don’t want and breathe out fresh air. The more trees, the thinner the blanket becomes.” River promised to plant a little oak tree right by the creek tomorrow.
Nereus then talked about energy. “When we keep lights on in empty rooms, or leave the TV running, we waste energy. Most of that electricity still comes from power plants that burn fuel, adding to the blanket.”
“So, we use less energy, and we also reuse things,” River realized. “Like taking cloth bags to the store instead of plastic ones, and fixing my favorite worn-out toys instead of throwing them away!”
Nereus slowly lowered himself back into the remaining water. “Remember, River, global warming is just too much heat. We fix it by making the blanket thinner—by planting, by saving energy, and by reducing our waste.”
River waved until Nereus disappeared beneath the surface. She felt a surge of courage. The problem was big, but she was bigger—because she knew exactly how to help cool the world, one small act at a time.
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