This whole question of climate change intrigues me. We know
it’s happening, we can document that. We know why it’s happening to some extent
and we can document that. So the question is what can we do about it, and why
is it so controversial.
As long as we choose to live on this earth we can’t help but
do things that are detrimental to the earth. Even without burning fossil fuels,
as long as we leave bodily wastes, inhale oxygen and give off carbon dioxide,
we pollute the environment. There are things we can do to mitigate the effects
of this but we can’t stop it from happening. The population of the earth in
1800 was 1 billion people. It is now7.5 billion and by the end of this century
it will be 11.1 billion. I am not sure where the tipping point is, when the
earth is two small to accommodate the population and all their waste, but I am
sure there is one.
It seems to be a no brainer that in order to keeps this
place inhabitable we should do what we can to slow down this self destructive
process. There are natural processes where the earth can and will, heal itself
but we have overwhelmed these processes to where they can no longer keep up. In
Hamlet we read Shakespeare’s words “To be or not to be, that is the question.” I
find that soliloquy to be a good question to ask ourselves when we talk about
the long-term prognoses for the human race. At the same time if you’re old
enough to read this and understand it, it’s probably not applicable to you.
It’s a slow process, albeit one that feeds on itself and at some point will run
away with itself. The question then becomes, not if we will survive but if our
grandchildren will survive to see it. I guess it basically says if you don’t
care about the next generation’s comfort, then no problem. If you do, it’s a
big problem and most experts are pointing to the end of this century for the
real trouble to start.
I want to talk about Emily. She is my 8-month-old great
granddaughter. There is a very good chance Emily will be here at the turn of
the next century to witness this. So if I choose to say what is happening is
all a hoax, because economically it brings a hard ship on me right now to
believe otherwise; then what I am saying is what is most important to me right
now, is making money and Emily can just deal with it when it happens. It’s her
and her generation’s problem, not mine. Maybe I did help cause it but right now
its not impacting me and if what I have said is true, at some point its going
to happen anyway, despite our best efforts, so why waste the time dealing with it.
Don’t worry-- be happy.
Cancer patients are sometime told they have no chance of
surviving their disease. At the same time they are told if they are willing to
put up with the discomfort of treatments, maybe they could have another year or
two. Surprisingly most of them want that year. It’s called hanging on to life.
If we do what we can, to slow down this process of self-destruction, we give
billions of people like Emily the chance to have this same life expiernce we
had on this planet. The choice is ours. To be or not to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment