CLIMATE CHANGE: what does it mean?

To Be Or Not To Be: that's the question!

Let us put aside the question of whether global warming is due to natural or anthropogenic causes. Instead, let's ask the question, what are we doing to our planet and all the creatures that inhabit it, not just humans? That is, let's broaden the debate from greenhouse gases and global warming to a more fundamental issue, the right for all species to exist. To be or not to be: that's the question we need to address!

Human population continues to increase relentlessly and consumption of the world's resources grows even faster. The two factors are stressing our biosphere to the point that human existence is at risk, just like the many other animal species that have become extinct, and the many more that are on the verge of extinction.

There is no doubt in my mind that humans are responsible for the damage to the earth's biosphere, which is shared by rich and poor and all living things on this planet. We all like the latest gadgets that technology provides us, but those same gadgets are harming all fauna and flora on planet Earth.

To the Andean people living on the highlands of South America, away from the congested and polluting mega cities, in much the same way as their ancestors lived for millennia, the modern lifestyle of the big cities is incomprehensible. The indigenous people of the Amazonian watershed concur, as do the Inuit inhabiting the arctic. They all believe that we're nuts! They don't have to read or see the news to know that our modern lifestyle is destroying our biosphere. They can see the effects of so-called Western progress firsthand!

Mining activities in the Andes Mountains are polluting the habitats of indigenous people and destroying their way of life. Many of them have no choice but to leave the traditional life and embrace the artificial one that we have created in the name of progress. Mining operations near these villages that have existed from time immemorial have polluted not only the air, but also the water they drink. They have polluted rivers to the point where fish life is no longer possible; and with the fish went their sustenance.

Logging in the Amazonian basin is not only destroying pristine rainforests, the lungs of our planet, but also the habitat of the indigenous people and their livelihoods.

Yes. We can blame it on the mining and logging companies; after all, they're the ones causing the damage. Yes. We could do that, but it would hide, or deny, the fact that we share that blame. Our excessive consumption is ultimately to blame. We are no longer living sustainably, as do the Andean, Amazonian, Inuit and many other peoples living traditional lifestyles, in harmony with nature.

In a world of 7.5 billion people and growing, we cannot sustain our current wasteful lifestyles. They are biting our rear ends and compromising the health of our biosphere, which is shared by all living creatures and plants.

Yes. We can blame the big, shortsighted corporations who are focused solely on profit and executive bonuses, for which they will stop at nothing.

We can also blame world leaders and governments for being equally shortsighted and as corrupt as their corporate counterparts. But, are we not to blame for electing corrupt politicians and failing to hold them accountable for their crimes against humanity? These are strong words indeed, but it doesn't mean that they're not true! 

How many people must die by uncontrolled corporate and political greed before we realize that it's killing us by stealth. Because the untold suffering and the millions of deaths that occur each year from a contaminated biosphere do not make front-page news, we, in the West, assume that everything is hunky dory. That's what corporate and political leaders want us to believe because it's in their best interests, but not in the interests of humanity and Mother Earth that gives us sustenance.

Our leaders focus on ever-growing production and consumption because that's in their best interests. They are raising the standard of living for the few, at the expense of the many. The more resources Western societies consume, the less is available for less developed societies, and even less for future generations.

If we want to leave a habitable world for future generations, we have to reduce consumption. Western societies account for less than 20% of world population, but consume in excess of 80% of natural resources. We reap the benefits of overconsumption, while others suffer the consequences: the dead fish in the streams that provided sustenance to those living traditional lifestyles, for example, but we all pay the price from the numerous diseases that are directly attributable to our contaminated biosphere. We cannot pollute our biosphere mindlessly and not pay a price for it!

The atmosphere and oceans are shared by everyone and their contamination affects everyone. Our health suffers from all the toxic and carcinogenic substances that are spewed into the air and water from production and use of all the gadgets that we don't need nor want, but buy nevertheless because we don't want to miss out.

Imagine that! We buy useless gadgets without giving a single thought to how their production and uses affect our biosphere and our health; and without a single thought to the legacy we leave to those who come after us! 

Even if we were to immediately curtail consumption radically, which of course won't happen, it would take many generations before the health of our biosphere would be restored to what it was only seventy years ago, when I was born. We lived much simpler lives then, but we were healthier.

Yes. The health effects of a contaminated biosphere are real, regardless of where we live. Of course, some places are worse than others, but we all pay the price. Each year, the world health organization publishes the consequences of our lavish and wasteful lifestyle. It's there for all to see in black and white, but only a few pay attention to the numbers because we're too busy consuming and polluting. 

We're living an illusion; rather than facing the facts, because that would require a change to the status quo that only a few are willing to make. Maintaining the status quo means that we will soon hit a brick wall that will shock us all back to reality.

To be or not to be, that is the question we should all be asking! To be responsible wardens of Mother Earth or to continue consuming wastefully causing irreparable harm to it: that's the decision facing each one of us.

What will it be?