The problems of Earth: Introduction
2020 is a year for change. Almost everyone will agree on that. But… what kind of change? And this is what we have to discuss, think and rethink. Because that is the important issue. That is what really matters.
Covid-19 has brought an important crisis. Not only a health issue but a social one, and it is global. It seems that the entire humanity has experienced a major setback, but we are forgetting that for many communities, the severe blow hit long time ago. Not the Covid-19 of course, but other health problems, other viruses, lack of sanitary infrastructures, lack of sanitation and lack of resources… From a wealthy status it is easy to forget about others’ problems. As long as we open the tap and water flows, it is easy to forget that some communities do not have access to drinkable water at all. Food can cause an obesity problem in some families, but it is also a malnutrition problem. The excess for some and the lack for others. This duality might not be deserved. This duality might be de cause of many of our problems as inhabitants of the Earth.
Forgetting that the Earth is unbalanced –because of land, water and air pollution, energetic crisis, global warming and a dramatic loss of biodiversity that we are replacing with plastic– is not a good strategy for success. This is our planet, run by humankind for humankind. There is little left for the rest of the living world. But the living world will endure. We humans cannot presume the same.
We need to help reestablishing the balance on Earth because we are the main cause why it is unbalanced. It might seem impossible to believe that one single species has been able to destroy the entire planet, but in 2020, despite the pandemic, despite the wars, despite poverty, we are 7,8 billion people, the Carbon in the atmosphere is 415ppm and the remaining wilderness is only 35%. Scientists predict the 6th mass extinction by 2100s, when large parts of the planet will be uninhabitable. You might think there is plenty of time left, but the reality is that there is not. Scientists predict that by 2030s the Arctic will become ice-free during the Summer and the Amazon rainforest will turn into a savannah; by 2050s fish populations will crash and coral reefs will die; by 2080s soils will become overused and pollinating insects will disappear causing the crash of food production too. This are a few examples of a longer list of effects of an unbalanced Earth that has reached top capacity long ago. Along this process, the weather will become more and more unpredictable, causing more natural catastrophes and more social crisis.
The fact is that we are anesthetized, there is so many problems, so many disasters and we hear so much of it, that when we hear that half of the coral reefs have gone, we don’t pay attention; when we hear that there are only the 10% of sharks left from the beginning of the industrial fishing, we don’t pay attention; when we hear that we have destroyed almost all the rainforests, we don’t pay attention; when we hear that 4,000 meters down the ocean there is yet trash, we don’t pay attention. Because we don’t see it and we believe that we are not affected by it. But we are. And when the time comes and we face those effects –which many communities are facing already– it will be too late. And this is the real problem that humanity is facing today.
If the pandemic is a self-protection from Earth to human beings we cannot know. It is risky to assume that. But what is truth is that when you destroy everything you touch, in the end you destroy yourself. And as sad as it is, human beings have done so, but in this world, a species can only thrive, hen everything else around it thrives too.
We need to re-wild the World –restore biodiversity. We owe to stabilize and reduce population by rising the standard of living without increasing our impact on the planet. And we can do it with renewal energies, reversing the deforestation, live according to the capacity of the planet and not the standards of crazy consumerism that we have. We have an urgent need to leave free-land for wildlife. For all of that, there is an overriding principle: Nature is our biggest ally and our greatest inspiration. Let’s live according to our truly role in nature, we must be part of nature and not thieves of it.
The proposal is as follows: use this time of crisis that Covid-19 has offered –or imposed– us for educating yourself on how can you improve your relation towards the Earth, what can you change to make your life more sustainable, how can you raise and achieve these standards of living respectfully with the environment… And share it with your friends, family, acquaintances… Every effort matters. Become a person of meaning. Because guess what? Earth is the only planet with WHALES.
From our side, we are starting a series of posts that will explain some of the main environmental and social problems that we are living nowadays. The aim of this series is to spread knowledge and raise awareness. We hope to motivate –and perhaps inspire– you to follow a more sustainable lifestyle and to think about the environmental impact of your choices and decisions. Posts will be released every Monday, are you with us?
Author: Maria Serra
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