Anyone can make a difference.

That was one of the messages delivered on Friday morning to a group of Wareham High School students by Alan Palm, presenter for the Alliance for Climate Education (ACE), a group which aims to educate and inspire younger students to stand up and make a difference when it comes to protecting the environment.

“The choice to pretend the problem doesn’t exist is no longer an option,” said Palm.

Palm travels to schools around New England, spreading the word on climate change and hoping to influence students to organize their own initiatives and to take action. According to ACE, their program is based on the “latest and most credible scientific resources, which include Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report — one of the most heavily researched and reviewed scientific reports in history.”

Palm said that years and years of man-made pollution and over-consumption has led to climate change all over the world.

"In your lifetime, water levels will rise 33 inches," said Palm to the students. "That may not seem like a lot, but it has a lasting effect on the environment," he added, saying that it was because of changes in water temperature and other forms of climate change that we're seeing super storms like Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Palm said to start, students can “Do one thing,” or "DOT," to get the ball rolling — whether it’s as simple as recycling or as complex as inventing environmentally friendly products.

“You can step up and get together with other people,” said Palm, adding that one of ACE’s objectives is to find leaders within schools that can join forces with other students in the area to combat climate change. “There are things young people can do to help.”

He referenced the recent People’s Climate March in New York City that saw over 400,000 environmentally conscious individuals gather in a call for action against climate change.

Henry St. Julien, who is the leader of the Global Education Team at the School, said he’d organize a brainstorming session after school on Thursday, Dec. 18 for students to get the ball rolling in regards to what they can do.

The lecture was organized by the Wareham Land Trust through Mack Phinney and others. Phinney also spoke, saying that it’s important for students to get involved locally because of the mistakes made by those in his generation and generations before.

“It's the people who are alive today that are going to solve climate change if we're going to solve it,” said Phinney. “Unlike a lot of people, I decided a long time ago to do something about it. It's been a long time coming but it's changing momentum. You guys have to make the changes.”

Phinney said that it’s one of the Land Trust’s objectives to help battle climate change locally.

“We want to continue this,” said Phinney. “The Wareham Land Trust is more than happy to help. Part of our mission is to provide education to the community.”

Palm said that through speaking at schools, he and others have been able to get over 300,000 commitments for DOTs from students in the United States.

“You can step up and get together with other people,” he said.