13 - Climate Action

13 – Climate Action

Earth is the only planet in our solar system bearable of life to our knowledge. Currently, climate change is the biggest threat that we are facing; the crisis that concerns all of humanity is worsening faster as time progresses. This change that we are experiencing, from the ice in our drinks lasting momentarily, to the sky being darkened by smog, is making planet earth unbearable for any type of existence. In correlation, all food webs are being affected because of this issue. Food can originate from the land or sea. Nevertheless, in the ocean, because of acid rain and constant land pollution, marine life is decreasing extensively; from algae blooms causing anoxic waters to the aquatic animal’s inability to breath, survive and reproduce in the contaminated waters. On the other hand, on land, the human existence can get their nutrition from grazing animals or agricultural production. However, growing a diet that derives from the land requires the uses of water, by which because of the shortage there is, it is extracted from aquifers, causing the land to subside. Henceforth, grazing animals, specifically cattle, increase methane levels (gas that destroys the ozone layer) and CO2 levels (gas that causes climate change), contributing further to climate change. It has come to the point where anything that humans do is bad for the environment’s health. Never the least, if nothing is done, the issue might become totally irreversible for the human existent to salvage.

The sense of apathy towards a problem that does not affect one’s everyday life is a phenomenon commonly viewed in the human race. Individuals normally try to ignore the problem until it is barging into their faces, disregarding the problem until it is no longer reversible.  While the ticking clock is in our hands, one should proceed with an action plan. Action does not start by a giant leap forward. We should begin by turning the light off when not in use, and becoming more involved in the issue. Join a non-profitable organization or create a new and improved alternate technology to stop the use of fossil fuels. For instance, in relation to my daily life and future plans, I would like someday take the role of an inventor, by which a machine that takes and cleans sea water of all its pollutants and sea salt could be created and used for agricultural, grazing, or human purposes; or a mechanism that takes foam (one of the least biodegradable materials humans use) and transform it into a bio-decomposable material that can biodegrade in less than fifty years.

If procrastination takes ahold of the issue, all organisms in the planet will soon perish. Obviously, this problem is not in isolation; it is globally connected to all ecosystems. What we once thought was a theoretical issue is now a reality affecting, without exclusions, all organisms on earth.