Joshua Yen
2 August 2012
“The changing
climate impacts society and ecosystems in a variety of ways. For example,
climate change can increase or decrease rainfall, cause changes to forests and
other ecosystems, or even impact our energy supply. Climate-related impacts are
occurring across regions of the country and across many sectors of our economy.”
www.epa.gov
In this world, many people live on this
Earth. Because people live on Earth, they collectively have massive effects
upon the Earth’s environment. Assuming that people are currently significantly
harming the Earth, (a topic for another essay which has already been written,) the
question then become: with the assumed awareness of the influence that people
have upon the environment, are people likely to make sufficient progress in
putting the brakes on the mass pollution, or is the momentum simply too great
for people to be able to avoid damaging the Earth beyond repair? Although both
arguments have merit, when it comes down to the line, people are still more
likely to damage the Earth beyond repair. Therefore, there are at least six
important reasons why people are still in danger of damaging the Earth’s
precious environment beyond repair.
First, there are at least three important
reasons why people are still in significant danger of damaging the Earth beyond
repair. One reason is because of the destructive power of greed. It was stated
by Lucius
Annaeus Seneca, “For greed all nature is too little.” This often
turns out to be true. For example, many of the people in the oil business
ignore the facts: that the burning of oil contributes to the release of carbon
dioxide and therefore to global warming, that just one of their oil spills
delivers a mini knockout blow to the environment, and that as it becomes harder
to access oil, more pollution will be created for every barrel of oil, thus
dramatically exacerbating the present dilemma. Because of their wish to simply
make money, and lots of it, they ignore the harm that their industry is causing
to the Earth’s environment and comfort themselves with thinking that global
warming of this scale is natural. (It is not natural. It is manmade.) Also,
another reason is because of the massive amounts of people present on this
Earth. As Mary Ellen Harte and Anne Ehrlich reported, “The world’s biggest problem? Too many people.
Our unsustainable population
levels are depleting resources and denying a decent future to our descendants.
We must stop the denial.” Because there are over seven billion people on the
Earth and the number is rapidly increasing day by day, more and more
food will be needed in order for a vast majority of these people to not die of
starvation. Furthermore, since the farming system today is not very efficient
and the damage that people have done so far is causing the weather to worsen,
crops will become less fruitful, causing yet less food for more people. Additionally,
yet another reason is because of the wastes, gasses, liquids, and solids, that
people create. According to the Internet website www.aip.org, “As the 21st
century began, not only was the global temperature soaring in a way never seen
before, but field evidence showed that the expected feedbacks were kicking in.
In sum, global warming was leading to more greenhouse emissions, which would
lead to more warming... and so forth.” It may be easily concluded that the
amount of waste being created, whether it be of liquid, solid, or gas form,
will increase for at least a given amount of time. This means that the already
massive amount of waste will continue to float in the water, pile up in already
overfilled landfills, and cause the death of even more plants and animals.
Basically, this waste that is constantly being accumulated deals severe damage
to this planet’s ecosystems. Moreover, when people drive around in cars, they
let out massive amounts of harmful gasses. Several of these gasses become liquid
in the form of acid rain, which further degrades the environment. All of these
contributing factors can only lead to one event: the harming of the
environment. After all, dissolving trees with acid rain, poisoning water with nitric
acid (NO3), and raising average temperatures by relatively
significant amounts (one or two degrees Fahrenheit) is not very good for the
environment.
Next, there are also three more crucial
reasons. One reason is because of the ignorance, deliberate or otherwise, of people,
especially in the oil industries. According to the Internet website www.globalsham.blogspot.com,
“Proves what I've said all along. Global warming is BS and it's being propped
up by liberal dopes who KNOW it’s BS for the sake of advancing socialism and
harming capitalism.” This is an example of a person who does not believe in
global warming. Many of the United State’s Republicans share this belief, and
as a result, they favor oil, coal, and the whole package. They assume that the
pollution does little to no harm and that it follows that they do not need to
worry about the massive amounts of pollution that they are creating. This catastrophic
point of view leads to a partial damming of a small but growing stream, and
cancels out a good portion of the efforts made by others aware of the danger.
In addition, another reason is because the existence of people and their
actions are destroying the ecosystems. It was stated by Yasmin Zinni,
“Human action has
already transformed a third of the land surface of the planet, and also been
responsible for the degradation of aquatic ecosystems. Today, human activities
such as agriculture, mining, industry, and fishing are the main cause of
ecosystem destruction, especially when performed in an exploitative and
irresponsible way.” When people take over land that formerly belonged to Mother
Nature (no human had claimed it before), they kick out the animals and the
plants that lived and existed there. That means that as more land is taken,
less land is left for the animals and the plants. Furthermore, with all of the
pollution going on, ecosystems that are not taken are usually in the process of
being harmed and marred. Take the Antarctic. Or the Amazon. Both are
drastically different landscapes and ecosystems, yet are being harmed by
pollution and the taking of land. Moreover, yet another reason is because of the wars. As Gar Smith typed, “War is
humanity’s deadliest—and most polluting—pastime. War
exterminates wildlife, disrupts habitats, and contaminates the land, air, and
water.” When machine guns are firing,
tanks are being blown up, and missiles are being launched, fuel and tanks are
being burned, which causes significant amounts of pollution, and machine guns can
lodge into the soil or sometimes hit animals. These are just a few of the
reasons why war often leaves behind a barren landscape and many grim fighters.
Furthermore, these horrific results only worsen the pollution already being
caused in peacetime, thus causing a grim situation.
Several people argue that
people are trying to change their polluting habits. According to the Internet
website www.sunnywalter.com,
“Other
environmentally friendly people who helped me with the book includes: Priscilla
Dauble, Darlene, Barry Bidwell, Denise Daily, Bobby Rose Welden, Virginia Clark,
and Terry Wahl.” Although many people may becoming more aware, they are, sadly,
simply part of the minority. Over half of the world is either in a third world country
or a developing country. Third world countries include much of Africa, and
developing countries include India and China, the two most populous countries
in the world. Poor members of the third world countries are poor and struggle
to survive. As a result, they do not care much about the environment, but
instead, only about surviving. As for the developing countries like India and
China, their Industrial Revolution is starting at the worst time possible: now,
right when what is needed is a fierce break and then a furious U-turn. Another
group of people maintain that technology is improving. The Industrial
Revolution of the Western world took people here to this level today. With
China especially starting to make massive amounts of pollution, an unfortunate
situation has suddenly turned dire. As the Internet website www.radiantsolar.com
provided, “A
new appreciation for the principles of solar thermodynamics has produced higher
efficiency, greater performance, improved appearance, and better return on the
solar investment.” Although alternative technology to burning fossil fuels and
the cleaning of the fossil fuels is improving, the technology only takes place
in a limited part of the world, which implies that most people do not use or
have access to these technologies. These technologies can only be effective if
most people use them, for then, waste output would be reduced to a trickle.
However, since this ideal situation is not reality, these technologies are akin
to the lone man attempting futilely to fix the dike and hold back the ocean.
Last, yet another group of people contend that people are more aware. As the
Internet website www.thinkprogress.org provided, “We know we’re causing global warming.”
This may be true. However, it is not whether people know that they are causing
global warming that counts, but instead, what they are doing about it. Words
prove much less than actual actions. Basically, knowing is not even close to
being the same as doing. Although attempts are being made, it is still not
enough to be certain of preventing people from damaging the Earth beyond repair.
As a result, it
may by concluded that people are still in significant danger of damaging the
earth beyond repair for six vital reasons. Although global warming is hotly
debated, the facts still remain that it exists and is caused mainly by humans.
Furthermore, because global warming is being either argued about or simply
ignored, people do not do enough to avoid damaging the Earth beyond repair.
This is like having two people in a car hurtling toward a cliff. The person in
the passenger seat is screaming at the top of his lungs and shaking the driver
in an attempt to stop the car. The driver sees no danger, for he cannot see the
truth and, therefore, attempts to step down on the accelerating pedal: the
passenger is preventing him from doing so. Here, the passenger is the person
who knows of global warming and is actively attempting to prevent it, while the
driver is the majority, the people who do not try to stop global warming. As
was written in the New York Times, “Global warming has
become perhaps the most complicated issue facing world leaders. Warnings from
the scientific community are becoming louder, as an increasing body of science
points to rising dangers from the ongoing buildup of human-related greenhouse
gases — produced mainly by the burning of fossil fuels and forests.” Reader,
please wish the human race good luck and hope that they will be able to avoid
the sheer, quickly approaching cliff that awaits them.
