“If each individual was to live the life of an average American; we would need five planets in the next 200 years, unfortunately there is only one” _ Jane Goodall
Every morning, when a climate enthusiast checks his buzzy climate feed, he probably sees headlines such as: “Ahead of the Election, Americans’ Climate Concerns Slosh”, “Climate Change Claims a Lake, and an Identity” and so on. It is a sad truth that climate change has become just an effervescent jargon about which although a lot is being said but no potential positive change is visible. In light of the growing activism concerning climate change across the globe the question remains, ‘Are climate change related problems taken seriously by everybody?’ Tackling climate change certainly needs a concerted and collective effort by all stakeholders in today’s society and not just the government. However, lately many well-meaning organizations and individuals have been seen stirring the climate agenda.
Global Warming is causing widespread distress everywhere. The effects of greenhouse gases on human beings is extremely common and detrimental; issues like food security, cancer, species extinction, refugee migrations and even terrorism in certain countries are manifestations of climate change. CFC and UVR are causing skin and lung cancer, prolonged war over resources (for example the Iraq war) has led to the rise of terrorism, which in all worldview is not going to stop in the foreseeable future. There are stories of disappearing water bodies like Lake Poppo in Bolivia, which was one of the biggest lakes in the World, has now dried up as a result of rising temperatures and increasing industrial pollution. Lake Poppos’ residents are looking for livelihoods elsewhere across South America after losing their natural habitat. There are many such indigenous communities that have sadly been displaced or even removed from the world. It is not only the humans who are getting affected despite the best conservation efforts of so many international agencies, individuals and communities, 2015 also marked the extinction of the Black African Rhinoceros. About 20,000 exotic species are lost every year due to global warming. Melting glaciers have increased sea levels to such an extent that several islands near the Great Barrier Reef are now getting submerged. Changes such as these have serious negative effects on the entire planet’s well-being.
It is bizarre that despite all these evidences, many societies have been reported to reject the phenomenon instead of supporting the process of the damage control. 97% of climate scientists are of the belief that climate change is real and is primarily caused by human activities whereas 56% of Republicans in the U.S. Congress as well as “global businessmen” of the construction and mining companies who have their capital interests, nexuses and aspirations of making unprecedented billions feel threatened by the slightest legislations that favor environmental protection and therefore deny the phenomenon. According to think progress, some conservative commentators have gone so far as to describe climate change as a ‘hoax’, even a political conspiracy by the democrats to keep the anti-republican fervor alive. So, if you are to wrap your head around the issues related to climate change, be sure to not consult with someone like Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, who, in a radio show last September, said that, “I am not a believer. Unless somebody can prove something to me, I believe there’s weather.”
So, what is the future fight against climate change going to look like? Back in the 1960s and 1970s the first chapter of the environmental movement unfolded. The focus of that movement was things that people could perceive. Birds dying in suburban back yards as a result of either consuming pesticides or radiation from cellular phones, rivers covered in sludge that caught fire because of pollution, high rates of cancer and birth defects due to chemical plants to name a few. No deep insight is required to become enraged and demand action against things that are so conspicuous and people should take immediate action without any external force governing them when the enemy they fear affects them today. Global warming is far greater than just dirty water coming out of your tap. It takes a lot of awareness to put together the temperature rise: the ice caps melting, the sea level rising and the resulting dramatic weather events. Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth” well portrayed the existing climate change issues and this explains why in many polls a high point in public consciousness on global warming takes place around 2006 and 2007 — a time before the recession moved everyone’s mind to their pocketbooks. Climate change is perhaps one of the toughest challenges in public policy — mostly because it lacks immediacy. As more and more people come to accept the science behind it, climate change is still a distant threat.
Despite all the discussion it is certain that climate change is a human induced problem. We deny it because we fear that letting in the full reality of this crisis will change everything. However, a few strait jacket solutions would suggest that the dwellers of this post-industrial World should make smart choices and boycott the products from companies which are selfishly poisoning the world for their short sited greed by putting immense pressure on renewable energy and recycling of waste. Doing so will bring an immense cultural and behavioural change in how consumerist societies function. The much needed change of habits will only come about with acceptance of today’s climate issues and instigation of the mainstream consciousness.
