Climate Change and Human Detritus

The UN Report on Climate Change is, in effect, a commentary on how the detritus produced by humans over many decades has unbalanced the eco-system of our gentle planet to the point of danger: we have been extravagant in our demands of her, and careless of the deadly waste we have created through emissions, poisons and plastics – but it is not all bad news. Few if any commentators have commented on the amount of debris that has been found floating on the surface of remote seas being explored for signs of Flight MH370 – hundreds of large and small objects discarded by ships or aircraft often deliberately, without thought of what they will do to the life of the seas or the quality of the waters. We are fined for leaving litter in a city street: how good it would be if there were good monitoring and heavy fines for polluting our seas and rivers - perhaps one day this will be the norm. [caption id="attachment_2500" align="alignright" width="200"] climate change?[/caption] The reactions to the Climate Change Report have been interesting, with some people seeing it as catastrophic, others demanding greater action to curb emissions, some being reassured and others still calling for acceptance of and adaptation to the new climatic era. There is an element of truth in all these comments, but we must beware of complacency as much as fear-mongering. It would be easy for leaders and influencers to choose the path of reaction to the inevitable over measured proactivity now, but inaction or piecemeal prevention, which I believe may be the result, will be costly and unfortunate. The UN report on Climate Change is an opportunity to devise a global strategy to ameliorate conditions of life for all the occupants of Earth, present and future, not just humans. While there will be water and food shortages, migration of people and wildlife, floods and storms, droughts and extinctions, there is much to anticipate which could be beneficial also, such as better farming conditions in some places, and more temperate seasons much of the time, innovative ways of creating and using energy, constructing strong houses in the right places, and working with nature rather against it. If humans do not learn to see our world altruistically, then like a boomerang that world will hit us hard, and we will be forced to confront, painfully, the impact of the mess we have made. This is a wake-up call: let us not sleep through the alarm yet again. [byline]    ]]>