Can You Be the Hero of the Earth’s Story?
Oscar Wilde once said that “God, in creating man, somewhat overestimated his ability” and this, regardless of the way you believe we ended up on this planet, ultimately works to highlight the flaws in each and every one of us. Perfection does not lie in you – even if we were created for the very reason of being perfect.
Do you ever wonder if mankind was intended to be a gift to the Earth? Surely we cannot believe we are here to ruin the very ground we walk on. Everyday our ignorance is causing us to destroy our planet, even though we know of the terrifying impact climate change will have on many generations. We do not deserve to be the leader of the Earth’s hierarchy when we are continuously taking advantage of our powerful position and disregarding the issues we are being faced with. The planet is being destroyed and we are largely to blame.
The very food that keeps you alive grows from the same ground you constantly abuse or the members you deem as lower than you in the hierarchy, the water you drink is given to you yet again from the Earth you poison and that is the biggest flaw in mankind. We were created to live off of the Earth and instead we attack it. We are flawed, and ruining the very thing that keeps us alive is our biggest mistake as a collective. We have let ourselves down and it is up to us to make the change to keep our planet thriving.
Climate change is a growing problem and we humans are greatly to blame. It is scary to think we are essentially killing the thing that keeps us alive just by being so ignorant to the problem at hand. Scientists first knew that human activity in terms of greenhouse gas emission and the burning of fossil fuels would have a significant impact on the Earth in the 1800s, yet here we are with a planet: where global CO2 emissions from human activity has increased by over 400% since 1950, where the global temperature is set to be up to 7.8 degrees higher in 2100 than in the 19th century, where the average sea levels are rising by 3 mm per year and set to increase by up to 76cm by the end of this century, where the earlier onset on summer has led to a serious effect on many species, where there are bleaching of coral reefs, acidic oceans and melting of the world’s glaciers, all of which will ultimately result in a severe impact on the world’s most poor and vulnerable populations. This just proves that we are killing the planet on a daily basis – but if humans can be the cause of climate change and the imminent destruction of our planet, then surely we too can be the solution.
Luckily, we can make a difference. Just by making changes in our daily lives we could rewrite the path our planet is taking and strive to be the humans our world craves so desperately, and here’s how. To be the change our planet needs you could: walk places instead of taking your car, reduce your meat consumption (agriculture uses up to one third of the world’s water), be a more thoughtful consumer by wasting as little food as possible, watch your water waste by taking shorter showers and not unnecessarily filling up the kettle, switch to LED light bulbs (as they use 80% less energy and last 25 times longer than regular light bulbs), reuse, do not throw away anything that could be used again, reduce, do not buy unnecessarily, and finally recycle, be mindful of the wasted packaging you purchase and what bins you are using. All of this can make an immense difference but only if every one of us strives to make a change.
While our government continues to be driven by economic growth, we need to make a stand to be driven by the future of our planet. If we can contribute to the destruction of the Earth then we too can be the solution.
Never underestimate the power of your individual actions.
By Young Reporter Ellie Cox
First appeared in Grimsby Telegraph 2nd April 2019