All week, I have heard people say to me “It’s supposed to be spring! last year it was twenty-five degrees at this time, when will winter end?” or something along those lines; and yeah, it’s true last year WAS a lot warmer, but a snowy march should be nothing new to us. We’re Canadian, it’s the hot and sunny march that is out of place!
Anyway that got me to thinking about climate change, and how different the world is going to be by the time we are adults. Huffington Post and National Geographic both warn of food and water crises that could alter world food production, health, stability, and economic growth by 2030. We will only be 34. By the time we are 54, some predictions indicate that things like coffee, chocolate, honey, peanuts will be rare for those of us in (developed countries). For our brothers and sisters in Africa, the middle east and southern Asia, food and water shortages will probably raise some more serious issues then us hankering for coffee, sweets, and a PB&J.
In spite of all the evidence, I have come across a surprising number of people who refuse to believe the overwhelming science of climate change. Maybe there’s comfort in the denial, but personally I don’t get it. If you're still determined to not believe it, try to fight this flowchart!
So consider the extreme storms, droughts, erratic weather and vanishing arctic. It’s here. It’s real. It’s happening. Climate change can no longer just be ignored, or written off as a natural and balanced phenomena. Our world is changing, and I believe our continued ability to thrive and survive in the future depends heavily on how we treat this issue in the present.
P.S. If you disagree with me, tell me why!
AS IF coffee will become rare, that's just wack because I don't know what i'm gonna do without that substance to abuse. And i don't really believe in global warming as much as global climate chate, because there are places getting cooler as well as places getting warmer. There is definitely something wrong and it needs to be dealt with ASAP. I've always wondered on a small scale what can be done by the "little people" though
ReplyDeleteSadly, coffee is already seeing trouble from the climate change happening now. It's become such a staple in our lives that we take for granted the narrow habitat it can grow in, and how we're changing that habitat every day.
DeleteTo answer your point about places getting cooler, yes, specific places are going through small temperature drops. Sadly those are the exception, and the world has never been warmer than it is today.
I know I'm beating this quote to death, but "be the change". Our world is just a collection of people that think they are too little to make a change. That's how we got to where we are today.
Have you heard of Monbiot? He came up with the idea in a book that Canada and the US should be given "ice cap cards" from the government. Each month, they'll be loaded with "money" for energy, and the government would keep some themselves for social services. Once people spend that energy, they have to go the rest of the month without it. That means handwashing, no driving, etc. I think it's a brilliant idea. It would basically restore the whole world in just a little over 2 months.
ReplyDeleteIt would also fix poverty. Homeless could sell their energy to the more rich, and ideally everyone would balance out in regard to how rich they are.
No chocolate? Time to jump off a bridge.
ReplyDeleteI hate to be the pessimist, but we are so deep in our own #*$% that I don't see anyway to change the future.
So stock up on all the Lindt, Timmies and peanut butter as you can.
I second that.
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