As humans we need to change our relationship with the natural world. We have been abusing it for decades with the abuse getting exponential as our societies continue to develop and major industries focus more on maximizing profits than they do with creating a symbiotic relationship with nature. We are dealing with significant disasters all across the world and it’s barely in the news.
Catastrophic floods in New York City, Germany, Brussels, Flagstaff, Detroit, India, and Turkey. Active wildfires have already burned over 1 million acres this year in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana. And it’s not even the heart of wildfire season yet. This is not going to get any better and yet it seems like barely anything is being done about it.
These towns and communities will not be fully rebuilt in a year. And next year it will be other towns, cities, and villages that are impacted. We cannot continue to ignore these disasters and catastrophic events. They’re not going to get better. They’re going to get worse. We have to accept these facts, figure out solutions to these problems and make significant changes to be better prepared for natural disasters of greater magnitudes. People’s lives and livelihoods are being lost. If we sit back and do nothing either we will be impacted directly by it or someone close to us will be.
We have to change how we produce and use current energy sources. We need to acknowledge that our fate across the planet is interconnected and these incidents are not happening in a vacuum. There will be a domino effect as more disasters happen and more people continue to be displaced. If their towns are destroyed they might not go back to them. Where will they go? If we, citizens of the United States, think we have issues at our southern border now just wait til things get worse in Central America as more severe weather impacts the people living there.
What’s going to happen as hurricanes get worse and cause more destruction through the Caribbean and Atlantic coast? What will happen to all those humans whose communities are destroyed? Can we morally and ethically say that they must stay there and deal with that wake of destruction, especially if living there is untenable?
Sorry if this is inconvenient or killing your vibe (ok, I’m not sorry) but we have to accept reality and our impending collective fate. The older generations in charge need to take this seriously and start making significant policy changes. If they’re not going to act then they need to step aside and let the generations that will be living with these problems for many years to come take over. Flex tape won’t fix this.
We cannot afford to be idle when it comes to climate change measures. The Civilian Climate Corps is probably one of the best ways for us to mobilize and create a cohesive, unified response to the impending climate crisis. We’re already pretty far down a dangerous path that will be very challenging to come back from. If we do nothing Mother Nature will eventually win. And it could happen in our lifetime (it probably will).
Time is on her side, not ours.
@g3kiefer 