I don't know about you, but I think the earth is one of the unexplained wonders of this universe. Who would have thought a big rock sphere could sustain lives of so many living beings from the very minute form of microbes to sea creatures, land creatures and we humans? Did you know that the very blue planet in the picture sustains approximately the lives of close to 9 billion people?
At this juncture, our planet earth is suffering from global warming - a problem of which close to none of us care about or even think about in our daily lives. We get on with our lives, our daily routines and just live as if everything's okay. But the sad truth is, everything's not okay and very , very far from okay. Take a look at the graph below that illustrates how much the anomaly in temperature has drastically become over the years from 1880 to 2000, and believe you me at 2008, it has only gone higher - possibly bringing to light the term "off the charts". The source of the graph - NASA, for those who want to do some further reading.
No doubt, the trend of highs and lows in the temperature are still visible but the anomaly has clearly been going up and up. How much further are we going to ignore this clear warning from our mother earth? Countries worldwide are already in the Kyoto agreement leaving only the USA and Australia, which have not signed up yet, but we have to realise controlling the emission of CO2 is not merely a political act and there is only so much governments can do. It is up to us to make the change if we want a better tomorrow for our children.
To date, we have witnessed some drastic changes in the weather - increased in number hurricanes especially in the USA and Japan, unpredictable tsunamis, increase in seismic activities. I leave in Malaysia, and I can sure tell you the rains today and the rains I used to experience when I was kid are so different. Wind speeds have picked up ever since the mountains were mowed down to make room for development, temperatures 10 years ago in Kuala Lumpur used to be a comfortable 27C in the afternoon, now afternoon temperatures average between 33C to sometimes even 37C. Isn't that a clear enough sign?
Virtually all of us are stuck in this paradigm, ignoring the grave truth of global warming. If we want a better tomorrow, we have to start today; in fact we should have started yesterday or even the day before yesterday. One of us making a change isn't enough, but if all us can start spreading the word and changing our lifestyles to a more sustainable approach, I believe we can assist in bringing a more sustainable earth and future. Remember - 9 billion of us on earth can really make a change.
Further understanding: watch "The Inconvenient Truth" by Al Gore, visit The Green Guide, Reuters Environment Blog
It is the awakening of the individual, one person at a time, that will make the difference in this struggle. More and more each day there are signs that "the great turning," as Joanna Macy calls it, are beginning to occur. It will truly have to be a grassroots effort. Great post. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.
ReplyDelete