The title for this particular post is a question that has been posed to scientists and others for many years. We have no idea when the world will end, but I am sure each of us has thought about it. Will it simply die out whimpering or will it end in an enormous flurry of activity?
For at least the last fifteen or so years, we have been told that if we do not change our ways and fix the environmental problems of the world, our world will become terminally ill and die. I myself went to a lecture in about 1993 by a scholar of creation centred spirituality. Fr. Matthew Fox, then a Catholic priest, told us that this planet has 20 years left before we are at the point of no return. That was sixteen years ago. I may be bad at Mathematics, but I at least know that we have four years left! If you think we are going to change the minds of the entire world, co-ordinate world environmental policy, and have every country and every citizen in line to fix things in four years, you are severely dillusional my friend.
So do we just let the earth die; let it get to the point of no return? I’m afraid if that prognosis in 1993 is correct, then we may just have to. The phrase ‘Too late, too late she cried…’ is a pretty obvious fact at this point. But this is where we have a choice between whimpering or going out with a bang. The mobilisation of people all around the world is quite amazing. Plastic bag use is dropping dramatically. People are using public transport more, and we are quite simply getting off our collective backsides to make our world a better place.
Will it stop the polar ice cap from melting? Probabaly not. Will we save our environment as a whole? I hardly think so. But the original question is all about whether we are going to let this earth die in it’s sleep, or are we at least going to give it a fighting chance to live, albeit in a different form. That’s the real issue. This world is changing, as it has millions of times before. Will it be the same as we remember it? No. Will our children and our children’s children enjoy this planet in the future? Yes, of course they will. But it will be a different world, and their activities will be different activities. They will learn to live with changing weather conditions and everything else that comes with a planet in flux.
I have been watching and listening very carefully to all the ‘climate change’ talk that has gone on these last 15 years. I believe the science. The world is changing, and in a lot of ways, not for the better. But I also feel the science can have a detrimental effect on people’s attitudes. If the world does really have only 4 years left before it’s goodnight Irene, people will try their hardest until that point, and then will simply give up, and return to doing all the things that caused the destruction of the planet in the first place. Why? Because they will simply see no point. That’s surely not what we want. Those of us who are recycling, reusing, planting trees, catching the train to work and driving hybrid cars are determined not to whimper. If this planet is going to die, it will die fighting a damn good fight.
We have to realise that countries like China are not going to stop the environmental heresies it is involved in. Poor third world countries barely have the energy to care about living day to day. They don’t care about ‘carbon footprints’. Plus, you have to remember that their are millions of people who do not even believe the science, and call the whole thing a ‘beat up’. If they don’t believe it, they won’t be on board to assist those of us who do.
You might think what I have written is a ‘give up, lay down and die’ approach and I am advocating a ‘whimper’ standpoint. I am not. All I am saying is we need to continue to do what it is we are doing to save our environment as best we can. In that way, the earth won’t have as many problems as it would have if we did nothing. Will we turn it around completely? No, that’s imposible, no matter how much you love Al Gore. It’s very similar to the argument a slightly overweight person said to me when I asked why they continue to diet and watch what they eat when clearly it isn’t working. She told me, “If I didn’t perservere, I would be the size of a house!”
Same too with our environment. This world will be a wasteland if we throw in the towel in four years. We have always been told to ‘go out with a bang’ and that’s just what we should be doing.
Reduce. Reuse. Recyle. Give the planet a fighting chance to retain at least some of it’s former glory. We can’t save the whole planet, but we can mend at least parts of it.
May 10, 2009
A whimper or a bang?
Posted by damob under Social commentaryLeave a Comment
The title for this particular post is a question that has been posed to scientists and others for many years. We have no idea when the world will end, but I am sure each of us has thought about it. Will it simply die out whimpering or will it end in an enormous flurry of activity?
For at least the last fifteen or so years, we have been told that if we do not change our ways and fix the environmental problems of the world, our world will become terminally ill and die. I myself went to a lecture in about 1993 by a scholar of creation centred spirituality. Fr. Matthew Fox, then a Catholic priest, told us that this planet has 20 years left before we are at the point of no return. That was sixteen years ago. I may be bad at Mathematics, but I at least know that we have four years left! If you think we are going to change the minds of the entire world, co-ordinate world environmental policy, and have every country and every citizen in line to fix things in four years, you are severely dillusional my friend.
So do we just let the earth die; let it get to the point of no return? I’m afraid if that prognosis in 1993 is correct, then we may just have to. The phrase ‘Too late, too late she cried…’ is a pretty obvious fact at this point. But this is where we have a choice between whimpering or going out with a bang. The mobilisation of people all around the world is quite amazing. Plastic bag use is dropping dramatically. People are using public transport more, and we are quite simply getting off our collective backsides to make our world a better place.
Will it stop the polar ice cap from melting? Probabaly not. Will we save our environment as a whole? I hardly think so. But the original question is all about whether we are going to let this earth die in it’s sleep, or are we at least going to give it a fighting chance to live, albeit in a different form. That’s the real issue. This world is changing, as it has millions of times before. Will it be the same as we remember it? No. Will our children and our children’s children enjoy this planet in the future? Yes, of course they will. But it will be a different world, and their activities will be different activities. They will learn to live with changing weather conditions and everything else that comes with a planet in flux.
I have been watching and listening very carefully to all the ‘climate change’ talk that has gone on these last 15 years. I believe the science. The world is changing, and in a lot of ways, not for the better. But I also feel the science can have a detrimental effect on people’s attitudes. If the world does really have only 4 years left before it’s goodnight Irene, people will try their hardest until that point, and then will simply give up, and return to doing all the things that caused the destruction of the planet in the first place. Why? Because they will simply see no point. That’s surely not what we want. Those of us who are recycling, reusing, planting trees, catching the train to work and driving hybrid cars are determined not to whimper. If this planet is going to die, it will die fighting a damn good fight.
We have to realise that countries like China are not going to stop the environmental heresies it is involved in. Poor third world countries barely have the energy to care about living day to day. They don’t care about ‘carbon footprints’. Plus, you have to remember that their are millions of people who do not even believe the science, and call the whole thing a ‘beat up’. If they don’t believe it, they won’t be on board to assist those of us who do.
You might think what I have written is a ‘give up, lay down and die’ approach and I am advocating a ‘whimper’ standpoint. I am not. All I am saying is we need to continue to do what it is we are doing to save our environment as best we can. In that way, the earth won’t have as many problems as it would have if we did nothing. Will we turn it around completely? No, that’s imposible, no matter how much you love Al Gore. It’s very similar to the argument a slightly overweight person said to me when I asked why they continue to diet and watch what they eat when clearly it isn’t working. She told me, “If I didn’t perservere, I would be the size of a house!”
Same too with our environment. This world will be a wasteland if we throw in the towel in four years. We have always been told to ‘go out with a bang’ and that’s just what we should be doing.
Reduce. Reuse. Recyle. Give the planet a fighting chance to retain at least some of it’s former glory. We can’t save the whole planet, but we can mend at least parts of it.
Enjoy your day