A Conclusion and the Future

Only nine months ago, I started my journey with writing this blog. The original goal of this blog was, as described by the course, to share information about a subject I was passionate about- and I set out to do just that.

When I started, I wanted my blog to be informative and teach those who were reading about the complex nature of our current environment. On the other hand, what I did not expect was to learn as well.

As the weeks went on, I found myself having to research new ideas to talk about and, then, research them further to provide the information in a digestible way for those reading. At the same time, I took two environmental classes in the past year from which I learned a lot and even based a few of my posts on. Needless to say, this blog became much more than my outlet for talking about a passion- it became a powerful learning experience for me (and hopefully you too!).

Over the past few months, topics ranging from the impact of fast fashion to government policies to green architecture have been explored. At the end of each blog, I decided to have a “What You Can Do” section to keep the posts positive for the future of our planet. However, for this last post, which may seem a bit pessimistic to some, I wanted to leave you all, the future caretakers of our planet, with the harsh reality we are facing:

Our current behaviors and practices are having a calamitous effect on Earth. On top of that, we only have a small amount of time to change our ways for good.

The Reality at Hand

This post is not so much about my findings but rather that of professionals. Here are 6 reasons why we, the future generation in charge, need to invite and implement change as soon as possible.

1. “In its 2018 special report on Global Warming of 1.5°C, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that we only have twelve years to prevent the worst impacts of climate change” (“5 Climate Change Facts to Scare You”, IPCC ).
2. “Hazards resulting from the increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, such as abnormally heavy rainfall, prolonged droughts, desertification, environmental degradation, or sea-level rise and cyclones are already causing an average of more than 20 million people to leave their homes and move to other areas in their countries each year” (“Climate Change and Disaster Displacement”).
3.  “The world spent $50 billion dollars per year on weather-related disasters in the 1980s, according to the World Bank. Today, we spend roughly $200 billion annually. Twenty-five extreme weather and climate events in 2011 and 2012 caused more than $188 billion of damages in the United States alone” (“A Climate Change Reality Check”)
4. “Global sea level rose about 8 inches (20 centimeters) in the last century. The rate in the last two decades, however, is nearly double that of the last century and accelerating slightly every year” (“Climate Change: How Do We Know?”).
5. “Every year, about 8 million tons of plastic waste escapes into the oceans from coastal nations. That’s the equivalent of setting five garbage bags full of trash on every foot of coastline around the world… with production expected to double by 2050” (“Plastic pollution facts and information”).
   1. As a result, concerns over the use of fossil fuels in the production process and the human consumption of microplastics in water have become much more prevalent.
6.  According to NASA, “carbon dioxide from human activity is increasing more than 250 times faster than it did from natural sources after the last Ice Age” (“Climate Change: How Do We Know?”).

What You Can Do

As always, there are still things you can do. The most important of which is to continue to educate yourself and advocate for green practices.

Over the past few months, these blogs have discussed several ways to incorporate green practices into your lives, either directly or indirectly over time. There are so many other ways as well to take part in changing the path climate change is currently heading down.

In the end, we can change and we can save the planet. The question is, are we willing?

Expand Your Horizons

“Climate Change and Disaster Displacement”: https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/climate-change-and-disasters.html

“5 Climate Change Facts to Scare You”: https://www.earthday.org/5-terrifying-climate-change-facts-scare-halloween/

“A Climate Change Reality Check”: https://www.wri.org/blog/2014/02/climate-change-reality-check

“Climate Change: How Do We Know?”: https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

“Plastic pollution facts and information”: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/plastic-pollution