Steamboats, factories, trains. Child labor, pollution, low wages and disease. Many things came about from the Industrial Revolution, according to History.com’s article. But we can all agree if this uprising never happened, things would be the same today. I now have a question for all of you. Do you think climate change is actually happening right now?
To be fair, everyone has their own opinions, and with mass amounts of information being thrown at everyone day by day it is easy to get jumbled up in what's true and what's not. But I just want to shoot some of my thoughts out. Being an environmental science student, I have been exposed to much more than most in terms of the earth, its functions and human interactions with it. But leaving that aside, do you think it matters if the global temperature is rising? If it was a clear undisputed fact that because of our (human) actions, the ice is melting, the soil is drying and ecosystems are being disheveled—would it matter?
Nasa’s Global Climate Change Page has many pieces of evidence showing that things are changing. But again, moving away from fact or fiction, the inevitable increase of humans on this planet means there will inevitably be an increase in resources being used and toxic chemicals finding their way out into the atmosphere.
Clearing your head of all the questions previously asked, I urge you to listen.
Even if, the climate isn't changing, would it be a bad thing to stop discharging large amounts of exhaust and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere?
Would it be a bad thing to stop industrial farming and create solely local markets that you can trust and that are right around the corner?
Would it be a bad thing to create new emissionless forms of transportation?
Would it be a bad thing to cut resource use and stop so much trash from being piled up year by year?
Who would be hurt if we thought sustainably rather than conveniently?
What if our actions promoted life rather than not?
What I'm trying to get you all to think about is that this constant two-sided fight in today's society, whether it be over abortions, guns, a certain political party, or in this case climate change, is silly.
Changing our societies to suit a long-term planet makes sense, regardless of whether or not you believe the climate is changing. Our children and grandchildren will learn from our new mindsets. They themselves will create fresh new innovative ways to combine sustainability and convenience. And none will be lost. The key is to understand that shifting to new ways isn't a bad thing, it is almost an essential thing. The shift could be tough and many will only see the negatives at first, but with time not only can you reassure your child that they will have a husband or wife and a white picket fence, but our society, our economy, our technology all will benefit.
So stop fighting, and start opening your eyes to the possibilities shifting to a clean world will impose. For more, read Huffington Post's "12 Tips for the Sustainability Shift."
