“The human race runs toward a finish line emblazoned with the words ‘too far’ and wonders, Will we ever cross it? Have we already?”
Global Warming and climate change are posing an incredible catastrophe to the human race. For years, the emissions in our air have built up, slowly dimming the light we see and the air we breathe. So, how do we face up to this issue? How do we get in front of it?
Solution 1: Get everyone connected and concerned with the problem at hand so we can face it together. The question is, why is it so hard to get everyone involved to face this crisis? Poet and speaker Shane Koyczan describes his point of view on the matter saying, “We dismiss the truth not because we can’t accept it, but because having to commit ourselves to change is a scary prospect for anybody. The most alarming part of the statement ‘we are facing crisis’ isn’t the word ‘crisis’, it’s the word ‘we’, because those two letters take the responsibility away from one and rest it squarely on the shoulders of everybody”.
Solution one, get involved. It will be impossible to move forward and make real progress without the help from everyone. Every single hand helps, and if we can imagine the immensity of nine billion helping hands, we can get a real handle on the problem and conquer it.
Solution 2: Fix what we have destroyed. We need to get ahead of this problem now. Particularly, we need to cut back and start moving forward with solutions in America. Other places in the world have set their goal and that’s a big step towards a healthier planet. If we don’t take action now, we may be too late. Author Chris Mooney explains how, “The world’s recent Paris goal of keeping warming well below 2 degrees Celsius (or even better, 1.5 degrees Celsius), if achieved, may just be enough to prevent a scenario in which a total melt occurs over time.” Setting our country’s goal and beginning to make changes can really make an impact on our issue at hand. Especially, if we can “expand the use of renewable energy and transform our energy system to one that is cleaner and less dependent on coal and other fossil fuels”, we can make a huge difference. We have to start working on changes.
Solution 3: Raise awareness. Demand help. Call for action. The Union of Concerned Scientists wrote about necessary steps to be taken in order to beat our planet’s sickness. They suggest that, “In order to effectively address global warming, we must significantly reduce the amount of heat-trapping emissions we are putting into the atmosphere.” As individuals, we can help by taking action to reduce our personal carbon emissions. But to fully address the threat of global warming, we must “…demand action from our elected leaders to support and implement a comprehensive set of climate solutions.”
A plan as a nation, as a country, and as individuals must be formulated. A plan that starts moving now. In another spoken appeal for change, Shane Koyczan says, “The human race runs toward a finish line emblazoned with the words ‘too far’ and wonders, Will we ever cross it? Have we already?” At this current moment, the best thing to do is think about the future. What will our planet look like in fifty years? When Miami, New Orleans, and other major cities along the coast go under from rising sea levels, where will the people go? What will the quality of our air be like? What about the animals and plants on the planet that will be dying off faster than ever? These are all consequences of climate change and global warming that can either take place, or be stopped. The matter is up to the people of the earth. We must decide if our home and our lives, the lives of future generations, and all life in this atmosphere- that has done the impossible and supported life in an unbelievably vast void of nothingness- is worth saving.
Climate change is real, and it’s happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species. The year of 2015 was the hottest on record, and each year, the temperatures are only rising. To really face our problem and get a grip on it, we need to support leaders who do not speak for the big companies, the big polluters, but who speak for humanity, for the poor -who will be most affected by this, and for our future generations. The thought that we can just use a planet that has been here for 4.543 billion years and then throw it out, and make our way to another one, is absurd. The universe is not there for us to access when we need it, and some voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed. We must save what we have. We need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating. We must not dismiss the truth because the thought of the task at hand appears to immense to tackle. We must simply begin. Begin and survive; or turn away, and annihilate our own race.
This is how we solve the climate crisis. Neglect is no longer an option.
