We are all familiar with the term climate change. It is a real problem we are facing now due to rapid, unchecked industry growth. It seems that everything humans do is negatively effecting the environment. From deforestation for residential living and agriculture or paper products, to plastic pollution building up in the oceans from non-biodegradable waste, air pollution leading to smog and acid rain from fossil fuel emissions, water pollution from chemical wastes from large factory plants, the list could go on and on. Humans have developed a way of life that is not sustainable for the planet. These actions are coalescing to create massive changes in the climate. Left unchanged, the predictions for what life on our planet will look like in the next 50 years is pretty bleak.
We can already see extremes in weather patterns and that will only get worse. The increase in natural disasters over the past decade has spiked in frequency and intensity. Just this year alone, Australia already suffered a major environmental tragedy of their bush fires. Not only was critical habitat loss and many animals were burned to death, but many people died and lost their homes. It was a serious blow the the country, and this is only one example!
This one example alone, it is estimated 830m tonnes of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that will drastically warm the planet. Usually the trees would absorb this excess gas restoring balance, but unregulated deforestation has wiped out a large portion of forests. Experts predict that it would take 10 years for Austrailia's forest vegetation to return under normal conditions after the severity of this fire. But with the current state of climate change, they feel it will take even longer than that. With the lack of trees, the carbon dioxide emissions will only add to the already rising temperature of the planet.
It is not only wildfires that will increase. Other extreme weather conditions are rising as well all other the planet. Other conditions such as drought, heat waves, severe thunderstorms, erratic temperatures, severe weather conditions, rise in overall temperature, flooding, and more are predicted to take their toll. This will effect more than just wildlife. It will effect humans as well. These dangerous conditions destroy farmlands, ravage cities, and take the lives of thousands every year. In one year alone, on average 90,000 people die from natural disasters. This number will only increase in the upcoming decades because of climate change. These increased storms and catastrophes are just a result of the warming of the Earth caused by human activity.
Not only will the immediate effect of lives lost be the tragedy seen due to this. But the long term effects must be considered. Just as the deforestation and loss of habitat in Australia is inhibiting Australia's environment form
bouncing back, one can only assume the same will be seen everywhere else. Because the Earth and the environment is being depleted of their resources, they are struggling to recover from these events. They lack the trees, soil nutrients, and many other things they need to restore the loss of habitat. Nature has an uncanny beauty of healing itself and its resilience is remarkable, but it cannot do that if it been stripped bare.
We are now seeing first hand what happens to the environment when it is stripped bare. Netflix recently released a documentary called Our Planet. They look at major ecosystems around the world vital to the balance of our planet. One of the ecosystems they reported on was the polar regions and the result of the warming planet on their habitat. What they discovered is truly heart-breaking.
The walruses no longer have the safety of the ice to rest and live on. They are being forced onto small islands that cannot accommodate their numbers. As a result, They are over crowed and fighting for a place just to rest. Often babies are smothers or trampled on. Some of the walruses trying to find space were forced to climb bluffs of 180 meters just to rest. The sad part is, their bodies are not adapted for such climbs; they are aquatic creatures. As a result, if they did not die on the way up, many fall to their gruesome deaths on the way down. Hundreds of walrus bodies littered the rocky beaches broken and mutilated from such heights. Many sustain vital injuries and suffer on the beach for hours unable to move before they die.
This is only one example covered in this series alone. Thousands upon the millions of animals are facing this cruel reality. Due to human activity the world is changing far too rapidly for them to adapt to their changing environments. They are suffering the affects directly.
But is there hope? A glimmer of what the future could look like can be seen due to recent events. Since the quarantine, many have reported a bounce back in the environment. Many city sky lines can be seen from the lifting of the smog, the Himalayas are visible to Northern India again, wildlife is thriving in Yosemite National Park, the air is cleaning, the animals are returning, and even the ozone layer is restoring.
What if this could be the prediction of our future? What if instead of in 2040 there being a mass extinction of animals and air quality so poor that we all need respirators, it instead we could see a surges of wildlife making a comeback. And huge restoration in the ice reforming at the poles while the ozone shrinks away and is no longer a threat. What if our children could see a sustainable planet where humans live responsibly, and their children had a future for a healthy planet where elephants still exist and the Amazon rainforest is not a thing of the past.
This proves that all hope is not lost, and we as humans can do it! We ca act now and the Earth will heal itself. It is more vital now than ever that we act. The real question is, what will we do after the quarantine is lifted? Will we go back to our old ways, or will we demand new methods and act differently? Human ingenuity is a powerful thing, and when working together, there is little we cannot accomplish. Developing sustainable energy needs to stop being considered "taboo" "hippie dippie" thinking. Many brilliant minds have come up with creative ways to limit plastic waste, power machinery without fossil fuels, create electricity through clean ways, and so much more!
Simply put, climate change is the result of careless, thoughtless act. We as humans have not given thought to the future generations, to nature, to animals, or to the future of our home. Previous generations, since the Industrial Revolution, have only though about profit through means of exploitation. So focused on the here and now and making as much money as possible has gotten us to where we are. It's time people stop focusing on such selfish matters and think about future generations and the world we are leaving behind for them. Hope is not lost, and we can see that now. We can continue what has been started now. It is up to us to change the predictions, and we have a head start now. The question is how will we act once we get the freedom back? Will we do what we always have done, or will we demand a new way?
We can already see extremes in weather patterns and that will only get worse. The increase in natural disasters over the past decade has spiked in frequency and intensity. Just this year alone, Australia already suffered a major environmental tragedy of their bush fires. Not only was critical habitat loss and many animals were burned to death, but many people died and lost their homes. It was a serious blow the the country, and this is only one example!
This one example alone, it is estimated 830m tonnes of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that will drastically warm the planet. Usually the trees would absorb this excess gas restoring balance, but unregulated deforestation has wiped out a large portion of forests. Experts predict that it would take 10 years for Austrailia's forest vegetation to return under normal conditions after the severity of this fire. But with the current state of climate change, they feel it will take even longer than that. With the lack of trees, the carbon dioxide emissions will only add to the already rising temperature of the planet.
It is not only wildfires that will increase. Other extreme weather conditions are rising as well all other the planet. Other conditions such as drought, heat waves, severe thunderstorms, erratic temperatures, severe weather conditions, rise in overall temperature, flooding, and more are predicted to take their toll. This will effect more than just wildlife. It will effect humans as well. These dangerous conditions destroy farmlands, ravage cities, and take the lives of thousands every year. In one year alone, on average 90,000 people die from natural disasters. This number will only increase in the upcoming decades because of climate change. These increased storms and catastrophes are just a result of the warming of the Earth caused by human activity.
bouncing back, one can only assume the same will be seen everywhere else. Because the Earth and the environment is being depleted of their resources, they are struggling to recover from these events. They lack the trees, soil nutrients, and many other things they need to restore the loss of habitat. Nature has an uncanny beauty of healing itself and its resilience is remarkable, but it cannot do that if it been stripped bare.
We are now seeing first hand what happens to the environment when it is stripped bare. Netflix recently released a documentary called Our Planet. They look at major ecosystems around the world vital to the balance of our planet. One of the ecosystems they reported on was the polar regions and the result of the warming planet on their habitat. What they discovered is truly heart-breaking.
The walruses no longer have the safety of the ice to rest and live on. They are being forced onto small islands that cannot accommodate their numbers. As a result, They are over crowed and fighting for a place just to rest. Often babies are smothers or trampled on. Some of the walruses trying to find space were forced to climb bluffs of 180 meters just to rest. The sad part is, their bodies are not adapted for such climbs; they are aquatic creatures. As a result, if they did not die on the way up, many fall to their gruesome deaths on the way down. Hundreds of walrus bodies littered the rocky beaches broken and mutilated from such heights. Many sustain vital injuries and suffer on the beach for hours unable to move before they die.
This is only one example covered in this series alone. Thousands upon the millions of animals are facing this cruel reality. Due to human activity the world is changing far too rapidly for them to adapt to their changing environments. They are suffering the affects directly.
But is there hope? A glimmer of what the future could look like can be seen due to recent events. Since the quarantine, many have reported a bounce back in the environment. Many city sky lines can be seen from the lifting of the smog, the Himalayas are visible to Northern India again, wildlife is thriving in Yosemite National Park, the air is cleaning, the animals are returning, and even the ozone layer is restoring.What if this could be the prediction of our future? What if instead of in 2040 there being a mass extinction of animals and air quality so poor that we all need respirators, it instead we could see a surges of wildlife making a comeback. And huge restoration in the ice reforming at the poles while the ozone shrinks away and is no longer a threat. What if our children could see a sustainable planet where humans live responsibly, and their children had a future for a healthy planet where elephants still exist and the Amazon rainforest is not a thing of the past.
Simply put, climate change is the result of careless, thoughtless act. We as humans have not given thought to the future generations, to nature, to animals, or to the future of our home. Previous generations, since the Industrial Revolution, have only though about profit through means of exploitation. So focused on the here and now and making as much money as possible has gotten us to where we are. It's time people stop focusing on such selfish matters and think about future generations and the world we are leaving behind for them. Hope is not lost, and we can see that now. We can continue what has been started now. It is up to us to change the predictions, and we have a head start now. The question is how will we act once we get the freedom back? Will we do what we always have done, or will we demand a new way?
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