Ship Breaker By Paolo Bacigalupi

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The Unrelenting Environment According to an article by Christopher Horn, environmental issues like global warming and pollution increase poverty and can change society drastically. In the book Ship Breaker, Paolo Bacigalupi communicates a future with environmental problems through the story. Nailer is an impoverished ship breaker near the enlarged Gulf of Mexico. Though Nailer is only a child, he is already working as a ship breaker to live. The constant pollution, storms, and flooding had already shut down most of society, leaving others to fend for themselves. Flooding comes from the melting ice poles, as traders are taking advantage of this to cut through the arctic and improve travel times. But non-sailors are not so fortunate, as their homes are washed away and the loss of government to protect them. In Ship Breaker, Paolo Bacigalupi demonstrated through the story, that the …show more content…

For example, Nailer witnessed the difference in wealth as he sat by the campfire, “That was what thinking about clipper ships got you. A lungful of smoke because you weren't paying attention to what was around”(Bacigalupi 47). Many people don't realize what they are doing can affect the larger world in a negative way. Also, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “Many global risks of climate change are concentrated in urban areas”(Horn). Densely packed areas are in more danger of affecting the environment because of the deficiency of greenery. Both quotes support the change of the world through human pollution, and still affect impoverished people. Nailer sat as a ship breaker on a beach, while city rooms are ordinarily cheaper. These places both have unhealthy pollution and environmental factors that change how people feel and live. Moreover, the rising temperatures and unsteady climate has lead to a rise of sea levels, threaten numerous coastal cities and

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