APES Energy and Climate Change Poem

Hansini and Joanna

High School Juniors

November/December 2024

In the dance of Earth, where energies play,

The laws of thermodynamics guide the way.

Energy flows, both slow and fast,

From the sun to the Earth, and through time it’s cast.

The first law whispers, “Energy Is conserved,

It never vanishes, it must be preserved.”

Solar panels, reaching toward the sky,

Capture the sun, where photons fly.

They transform light into work, with care,

A steady flow of energy to share.

Wind follows the same wise path,

Turbines spin with the winds' soft wrath.

The kinetic force, once wild and free,

Is harnessed with efficiency, to serve you and me.

Through blades that spin and motors that hum,

Wind power’s energy, to cities, will come.

Yet in this world, the second law speaks,

Of entropy, and what it seeks.

Systems always trend toward disorder,

Energy spreads, each time it’s ordered.

So we strive to use energy with grace,

Reducing waste, and slowing this race.

When fossil fuels burn, they add to the heat,

Greenhouse gases, like a blanket, greet.

Carbon, methane, and nitrous oxide,

Trap the warmth, from the Earth they hide.

The balance shifts, the climate sways,

Heat is trapped in ever-growing ways.

But with renewable sources, we can fight,

For solar and wind, they work so bright.

Harnessing power, reducing the strain,

Efficient systems ease the Earth’s pain.

We shift the balance, renew the flow,

And through efficiency, we help it grow.

For in each watt, in each breeze,

We capture energy, and aim to please.

With understanding of these laws, we find,

Sustainable paths for humankind.

In energy’s dance, with entropy,

We can shape a future, bright and free.

So let the wind blow and the sun shine bright,

We can use this power to set things right.

By understanding the principles that guide,

We create solutions, with nature beside.