Problems in Paradise

“There are four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.” – Anon

Whoever came up with this clever prose has summed up my feelings about ‘climate change’.

Photo by Anindya Chowdhury

I’m not even going to pretend I know much about it, but lately I’ve seen some increasingly disturbing signs of its effect on everyday life.

Personally, I believe “where there’s smoke; there’s fire”, so I’m not one of those who feel it’s not real. And, just like I don’t want to wake up sick one morning and be told that, “Gee, I guess second-hand smoke was real after all”, I think it’s wise to error on the side of probability – especially since the subject has been studied to death, like no other.

US President Barack Obama has stated, “Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms”.

Our planet is wrapped in a layer of greenhouse gases – shielding it from the cold universe – commonly referred to as the greenhouse effect. As this layer of greenhouse gas gets thicker, it in turn, makes the Earth warmer. Studies show that carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are the problem. And China is just warming up, with CO2 emissions expected to almost double within the next decade.

“Think Globally, Act Locally” originally began at the grassroots level; however, it is now a global concept with high importance.

For example, one large corporate water bottler has refused to lower their water extraction of one million litres per day, at one well, even though the local municipality has introduced summer watering bands, to avoid draught. Their defense … why should we cut back when our competitors aren’t required to? How’s that for responsible leadership?

Yet, even school kids, who are taught to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, (which include plastic bottles) know that everyone has to pitch in; so shouldn’t industry – the largest culprit – set the example? Nothing is free.

Wikipedia photo

Also, because of shifting fish populations (herring) due to rise in ocean temperatures, the cute little striped beak birds called Puffins have seen their chicks pushed to starvation. They’ve been called the marine canary in a coal mine. What’s next?

So, as time goes on, we see that our environment can’t be taken for granted and that our Earth must be respected.

“Look at Mother Nature on the run/ In the nineteen seventies.” Neil Young’s ‘After the Gold Rush’

Hopefully somebody … not just anybody … but everybody … will do something about it. Or, maybe, if we don’t, nobody else will, either.

www.fredparry.ca (June 2013)