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| No | 62% | 101 votes | Total: 163 votes | |
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Add to FavoritesNever before in the history of human civilization has mankind had the power to alter so drastically the environment in which it lives. The debate over whether or not global warming exists, whether it is caused by humans, and whether it will have a catastrophic effect on the global environment has long since ended. All research done by every credible government agency (from the EPA to the Pentagon) and private institution conclusively agrees that global warming (or for the sake of accuracy, global climate change) is a serious threat to the well-being of the planet and civilization as we know it. The problem of global climate change affects every living creature on the planet, and now that countries such as India and China are rapidly industrializing -helping their western neighbors contribute exponentially more and more carbon emissions to the atmosphere every year.
Before we go any further, a quick science lesson. Carbon dioxide is found in the air naturally -it helps regulate the climate of our planet by trapping the sun's energy and thereby keeping the planet nice, warm and inhabitable. However, as an excess of carbon dioxide builds up in the atmosphere from car exhaust, industrial activities, etc. too much heat is trapped in the air and the earth becomes a massive oven. As the earth gets hotter, glaciers melt, sea levels rise, polar bears drown, and the human race finds that it has more problems to deal with year by ever-so-warmer year.
If the industrialized nations of the world do not act quickly to curb carbon emissions, we could see Manhattan, Florida, Taiwan, Bangladesh along with a number of other highly populated areas lost forever to the sea (and not a couple hundred years from now as some believe, but within ten or fifteen years). This change in sea levels will happen slowly, leaving time for millions of refugees to relocate to higher ground. This will undoubtedly lead to wars, disease and famine of biblical proportions (picture the Middle East as it is presently, now add countless refugees of different ethnic backgrounds from neighboring coastal areas and you have something worse than anything ever depicted in a big-budget Hollywood disaster movie). Imagine wars over a rapidly dwindling supply of fresh water, unemployment levels (and as result crime levels) shooting through the roof, dead bodies festering with disease out in the open while the living are to busy trying to manage their own survival.
So as human beings with the ability to utilize reason and rationality, we are faced with a choice: acknowledge the very dire situation we are all in and deal with it in every way possible, or deny the serious concerns of climatologists everywhere and continue to live in such a way that will turn our beautiful blue ball into an uninhabitable hellscape where life as we know it is long gone. Already we can see the effect we are having on the earth: the number of level 5 hurricanes have doubled over the past thirty years, the Greenland glacier-which was expected to melt centuries from now-will now be gone in the next hundred years or sooner, the polar bear is nearing the endangered species list as its natural habitat melts away from underneath. Action must be taken by everyone to help lessen the severity of the situation we are in, and giving the problem attention is the very least anyone can do.
Learn more about this author, Arthur Rimbaud.
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Yes
Putting aside the debate whether or not humanity is facing an environmental crisis, is this attention (whether warranted or not) blotting out other equally or more important issues that humanity is facing?
Certainly other global issues such as poverty, hunger/famine, HIV/AIDS, violence, drought, war, and other problems plague much of the world. They are affecting humanity and in some cases nature as well. The question arises, have these issues been eclipsed by the cause of global warming and environmental degradation?
In his book, "The Skeptical Environmentalist", Bjorn Lomborg makes the case that the environment has eclipsed attention on other more pressing issues. He states that although he believes environmental issues are important, the current trend is more of a knee-jerk reaction rather than a well-planned and, more importantly, weighed reaction.
His assertion is that even through the implementation of Kyoto Protocol changes (which will not be made), the changes at the end of the century on environmental impact would be negligible. It is more important, he maintains, that more immediate needs like poverty, hunger, and war, are addressed first and swiftly, and that the environment (though change must happen) demands greater coordination and planning.
In my view, this idea is a valid one and has a great deal of merit. The angst people feel is a great force for change, but it is undirected and more akin to stabbing in the dark than a coordinated, focused effort. Imposing great, sweeping changes like mandating electric vehicles and imposing regulations on industry will do infinitely more good than reaching out to individuals in developed countries. Our abilities to change are limited by the system in which we're enveloped...we still need to get to work every day and the very government that created the sprawls that necessitate gas-powered cars now is doing very little to correct its own mistakes. The environment is the soup-du-jour and will be replaced by something else in a few years time. The only agencies capable of broad, long-term changes are governments and attention should be broad-based and balanced in such institutions, not reactionary.
The environment has become the Attention Deficit Disorder focus that will invariable wane as another cause is pushed to the forefront. It shouldn't be implied that it doesn't deserve attention or even some immediate action, but not to the exclusion of other and (in many cases) more immediate issues. Also, the corollary to a healthier, less destructive global society is the ability to have a greater effect on global issues as opposed to the (at best) spotty effects we can have now.
Learn more about this author, PatrickB.
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