Global Suicide

We are creating a planet buried in our own filth, simultaneously committing global suicide, genocide, biocide, and ecocide. The more that we advance, the more that we destroy, like an unstoppable virus that has taken over our once-healthy host planet. Walk into any major city and look at the horizon; you can see the pollution weighing heavily like a massive beige cloud. That cloud is a poison that we breathe into our fragile bodies while we live amidst the trash that litters our streets, our parks, and our beaches.

That plastic bottle you saw on the side of the road will take between 450 to 1,000 years to decompose because the person that threw it out of their window decided that this planet- our home- is their trash can. Videos of sea turtles screaming out in pain as trash is being pulled from their bleeding nostrils has surfaced all over the internet, while other photographs and videos show corpses of animals and birds with guts full of the trash that we discarded and they accidentally consumed. While we may not like to admit responsibility for these actions, every piece of trash that slices open an animal is the result of our species’ irresponsibly and carelessness. We are at fault and almost every species on this planet is suffering in some way or form.

Lush, beautiful rainforests used to cover 14% of the planet’s surface yet to this day only 6% remains and that percentage is rapidly shrinking at the rate of 1 acre per second. We tear down the homes of millions of different animals because we believe that our agenda has more worth than their life; yet by doing this we are shooting ourselves in the foot by polluting our largest fresh water source and destroying the trees that filter the air that we breathe. The runoff from the agricultural fields that replace the rainforest are polluting our largest fresh water sources, making the water undrinkable. Only 1% of our water sources are accessible and available for human consumption. These water sources are depleting at an alarming rate while our population is ever increasing. What exactly is humanity going to drink when it is all gone? Why are we destroying what helps us survive?

Due to poaching and rainforest destruction amongst many other human activities, scientists have now informed the public that we are bordering the next mass extinction. According to the World Wildlife Foundation, “The rapid loss of species we are seeing today is estimated by experts to be between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate,” and this is due almost exclusively to human activity. Soon our grandchildren will be viewing tigers and mountain gorillas among thousands of other species the way that we view dinosaurs; creatures only to be found alive within the pages of a book, but never to be seen with the naked eye.

                Here we are as consumers, standing in the middle of a consumer-based society, arguing over whether or not climate change is actually happening and no matter what evidence is shown the argument is an endless one. This isn’t a zombie apocalypse, y2k, or some other scare tactic for those that love a good dose of drama. This is the result of human activity as a collective whole impacting the planet that we live on to a detrimental point. Climate change is serious enough of an issue for global leaders to hold a conference in Paris, inviting officials from nearly 200 countries to meet and come to an agreement to reduce climate change. Global warming is not a conspiracy to alarm people and it isn’t a concept made up by Al Gore. This is real and it is happening. Change starts with the individual and needs to happen for the sake of humanity’s collective future. Procrastination is our biggest enemy; the actions need to happen now. One doesn’t have to go to extremes, wearing burlap in the woods while deodorant becomes more of a memory than a hygienic effort. There are little things that you can do to help that won’t take much effort and these little things you do will make a big impact. Remember a single pebble can stir an entire pond.