With every passing year, the message is becoming clearer and more urgent: We need to do something about the health of our planet. Google “climate change 2016” and over 100 million results show up, and rightfully so. The topic of climate change is a hot one, igniting opinion and concern across a wide variety of audiences. But even with all this talk, are people still not listening?
"Before The Flood" debuted on October 30th through various of platforms for free in attempt from National Geographic to get the message out there. In collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio, the documentary breaks down the science of climate change and the politics involved. Urgency was not spared here, with pleas throughout the film to work harder for a positive effort against this issue.
Then there is "The Ivory Game," a Netflix documentary of the war against elephant poachers. Based off the rate in which elephants in Africa are being hunted for their ivory tusks, we may not see them in the wild after 15 years. This is just with the elephant, and the thousands of other endangered species are also approaching the reality of only existing in pictures soon, too.
From news reports to Youtube videos to scientific evidence, the world is magnifying their concentration on climate change. But like most concerns, politics and businesses have started to focus in, as well.
And oh, is it nonsense. All of the debates being thrown back and forth between political parties is time-wasting when there is no time left to waste. If you ask someone if climate change is man-made today, there will be mixed reactions. Yes, the issue of if we should put effort into preserving our planet is now a controversial topic.
Look, I can't lay out every single fact and argument in this article. It would take a novel. But I can say this: We do need to focus on our environment, our planet. The life on this big beautiful rock is threatened. Think about that. Earth's climate is always changing, has been for millions of years. But we are contributing to a change that the life currently on this planet cannot survive in forever. We are fast-forwarding ourselves into a danger that human civilization has never experienced before. Earth will still be here after the repercussions, but we won't be.