Costs of Inaction... It's time to change!

How much do you really value the environment?  When I ask myself this question a number of images and memories come to mind.  I remember all of the good times I had as a kid such as: camping in the Kootenays and going on nature hikes, or spending time with my cousins at Sturgeon Lake.  Sadly one of the images that tend to pop up in my mind is one of ducks covered in oil.  This single question will make everyone think of something different.  For example, when I asked my friend Sam what he thought of when he heard the question the first things that popped into his mind were: water, trees, and birds.  My sister on the other hand, thought of recycling and animals.  There are also people who take the environment for granted, and don’t really realize everything that it provides for them.



 http://blog.joingreenrevolution.com/lets-talk-green/?Tag=BP%20oil%20Catastrophe



The way the environment is being treated today must change, or I fear that we will pass our tipping point and nothing will be able to be restored as it once was.  A tipping point is the point at which amplified stress on a system causes it to change quickly and form a new stable state (Chris Ling, Lecture Notes, 2011).   This is also follows a positive feedback loop, where changes in a system cause more changes to take place, much like a chain reaction.  The reaction will lead to a new equilibrium, and this can also cause a system to fail.  There is also such a thing as a negative feedback loop, and this is where change barely occurs and the system is stabilized (Chris Ling, Lecture Notes, 2011).

2010 was the warmest year on record for Canada and that has a lot of people worried about whether or not this is due to the way we are treating our planet.  The increase in temperature has also worried a number of populations that are living on islands.  What would happen if the ice sheets up North began to melt and cause a sea level increase by just one meter?  Sadly, some of these island communities would be destroyed by the sea level rise, such as Bangladesh where 40 million people would become homeless (Chris Ling, Lecture Notes, 2011).  This is causing several sea surrounded countries to purchase land on larger continents so that they can begin to move their residents to safe ground if sea levels begin to rise.

Another major problem that could result from not taking a stand against climate change would be the loss of biodiversity.  If the temperature continues to increase, certain species populations are going to begin to go extinct and this is going to negatively affect the human population.  Most medicines are made from herbs or plants, and if certain species start to die off our medicinal supplies are going to be limited and people will suffer. Seeing as we are kind of in a positive feedback loop, if we continue our wasteful actions the earth will continue to change, and inflation will take place.  This will have a negative impact on the economy.  For example, if a loss of biodiversity occurs certain plants will go extinct and this will increase the prices of medications as well as food, which will make it more difficult for the working class to survive and widen the gap between rich and poor.  The video I am embedding below serves to show and inform the public that there is a loss of species taking place since we are not working together to change the problems we have caused for the earth and its inhabitants.

 

There are certain necessities to life and there are also things that we want but are unnecessary.  This is not to say that we should not indulge ourselves from time to time, but we should be cautious about doing so.  It seems as if it is a trade off for living happy and healthy lives (with clean air and water) or living easy simple lives where when we want something we can just buy it, no matter the impact it is going to make on the planet.  I assembled an image that conveys this message, it shows that we can indulge to a certain point, but not to the point that the scale will tip and we will lose our basic necessities such as clean air for breathing.   



Image source: Kate Fonteyne



It is obvious that we need to change the way we live our day to day lives if we want future generations to be able to survive and live good lives.  Today as I was driving home from school I got a flat tire, and I’m going to take that as a sign of karma that I need to change my ways, so from now on I will be biking to school.  This is only a small change, but if we want to make a difference we need to start somewhere and become role models for the rest of the world.  I think that if a large oil company has the funds to drill for oil they have the money necessary to input environmental protection measures to prevent such things as oil spills.  By taking action against climate change we will not only feel good about the differences we are making, but we will create a better society for future generations to come.    

References: 

Ling, C. (2011). Tipping Points and Systems. Lecture proceedings from Royal Roads University, Victoria, BC.