We are all aware that a lot has changed especially in the recent decade or two. Constant progress in technology and our expansion as a species is leading to a lot of environmental changes. Some of the changes our planet is going through are visible immediately some of them will be visible in future and by then we can’t but wonder will it be too late for changes?
Imagine the next scenario – the year 2100 we have reached a population cap of 10 billion and we have a lot of problems on our hands. Some of those are constant temperature rise that melts the polar icecaps and leads to constant water rise which engulfs most of our landmass and a lot of cities. Breathing bad air that is heavily polluted means health risks if you are going out and food and water shortages are a constant reminder of just how bad we have strayed.
Now, this sounds like something out of a world end movie but it may very easily become real. You all know that at least part of it is troubling us even now. Our environment needs care, attention and it needs it yesterday. There is at least one thing that all of us can change to make this a bit bearable in the future. As far as what we need to do a good place to start informing yourself is alternativi.fr.
How did the problem start?
After the Industrial revolution, our population exploded and started exponentially growing. There is simple math here – more people have more needs meaning more resources to survive and by doing so create more pollution that has a huge blow on our planet.
The main source of pollution is burning fossil fuels which are our main source of electricity and transport. Releasing gases from burning fossil fuels means the creation of carbon dioxide which is a greenhouse gas. With the increase of greenhouse gas, we increase the overall planet temperature every year – the greenhouse effect.
Climate change
Now since we established one of the problems and a major one, we have to discuss the problems it drags with itself. Climate change means that we have some areas of the world that are getting wetter than aren’t supposed to (snow in Africa) or other places that are naturally watery are now getting hotter and drier. With climate changes, we are consciously making changes to ecosystems and biodiversity.
These changes are affecting both flora and fauna and now more than ever we have problems with species being endangered because they don’t fit in anymore, or we are in dire needs of rainforests that are unique ecosystems that support very high biodiversity because we need more space for farms, to mine minerals or grow other cultures.
Can we change?
Everyone and everything can change if there is enough will. There are growing movements in the world that are being more and more vocal about these problems and we believe that we are finally understanding what exactly we are doing to this planet that is our only home. Changes have to be initiated and we have to do it immediately.
We should focus even more on building our lives around renewable sources for transport, energy and everything else. Renewable energy is the way and reduction of the number of fossil fuels we burn each year is a great running start for the salvation of our only home.
Change is something that takes time and we get that but if we all managed to change a thing or two when it comes to our life choices we could help greatly and speed up the entire process as well. some options are available now like electric cars and electricity from solar farms, wind farms and energy we get from the sea. There are so many things on our planet that we can utilize to save it but somehow the progress in that department is really slow.
Make a stand!
Cutting down a forest to mine a precious metal, mineral, to extract fossil fuel is the worst thing that we can do to ourselves. Forests and trees have a service that they provide to our planet and they are important for the water cycle. Forests recycle freshwater across the globe but they also can take in and store carbon dioxide and that is the only thing that is helping in the regulation of the Earth’s temperature.
With fewer forests, the temperature constantly grows because the lungs of the planet can’t work in the same capacity as before. We should all take a stand and unite in stopping deforestation as a first step. Recyclable materials should be our next step and we are moving toward it slowly, again. Some companies recycle anything from wood, plastic to metals and reusing and repurposing it.
This should be the way forward into the future with more greens and a bigger lung for our tortured planet. Another thing that can greatly help in planets health is lowering the pollution that comes in a form of waste sewage, pesticides and fertilizers that find their way into the water plants, trees and we end up using.
Toxic materials from those can kill organisms and even destroys entire food webs. Pesticides we use to protect homes or farms can even accumulate in the tissues of organisms and stay in the environment for many years before they eventually break down. This also means that these pesticides find a way to your belly as well since most of it ends up in the water, so expect a fish or two that won’t be that tasty anymore.
Conclusion
We are a responsible population and we are coming to an understanding that our way of life and our life choices are badly affecting this planet. Thanks to this we see pressure toward governments that are aiming to lower the reliance on fossil fuels, and they are making schemes that are supposed to aid the endangered forests and animals.
The world we know today has been built on toxicity and fossil fuels but in this day in age, we have something we didn’t back then – technology and a choice. Let’s put this technology into good use and choose to save the planet because, as far as we know, this is THE ONLY ONE we all have.
