06.09.2011

I love the New York Times. I particularly enjoy the Op/Ed section. I know it is kind of problematic to say, but I get most of my news directly from that section. I stumbled upon an article yesterday by Thomas L. Friedman, “The Earth is Full,” (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/08/opinion/08friedman.html). He mentioned a number of the same thoughts that I have had for years—when are we finally going to realize that we need to save the global climate? Seriously, it has been obvious for too long, yet we still go on with our lives. We do not even consider the small actions we take, that may seem insignificant, but accumulates into greater issues. We believe that there are so many “other” people taking care of the Earth that we ourselves do not need to take care of it. We just do not have enough time/energy/money/influence to actually make a difference. However, our every movement, our every action essentially affects the Earth.

We must think—what do we do without the earth?  Where are we if our atmosphere is toxic?  What do we do if all our natural resources fail to exist?  Are we still going to be able to run our errands, go to work, go to the gym, study, take a walk outside?  Will this all be possible when the climate goes bonkers and our earth passes by?  Maybe we won’t be around for the end of the earth, but shouldn’t we do our best to let it last as long as possible?  I mean, I’m grateful with my life. I am very content with what the earth gave me.  Shouldn’t I give that same opportunity to my great-great-great grandkids?

The summarizing point of Friedman’s opinion article is found within the fourth to last paragraph:

“We’re currently caught in two loops: One is that more population growth and more global warming together are pushing up food prices; rising food prices cause political instability in the Middle East, which leads to higher oil prices, which leads to more instability. At the same time, improved productivity means fewer people are needed in every factory to produce more stuff. So if we want to have more jobs, we need more factories. More factories making more stuff make more global warming, and that is where the two loops meet.”

This makes complete sense. Even the obvious science, that we learn before we reach high school, indicates that thickening the CO2 blanket makes the Earth warmer and that chemically changing the water system, along with emitting more chemicals and using up all the natural resources we have left, will inevitably change the Earth’s ecosystem. Unfortunately, the countries that are doing the most damage are the countries that will not feel the effect soon enough. And, we hope that Paul Gilding is right when he states that we are heading for an environmental crisis yet when the crisis occurs, we will have a grave response and immediately act upon it. I hope so. I don’t want the poor children in Yemen to live without sufficient water.

K bye.