Rhiannon Castillo | Opinion Piece
When I was in eighth grade, my biology teacher took my class on a field trip. We went to the NASA Challenger Learning Center and participated in their space mission simulator along with other learning labs. The relevant part of this field trip was the learning lab where we had to analyze data- collected by NASA scientists- concerning global changes over the past century.
The evidence provided by countless scientific collections projected that the earth would become “unlivable” by the end of the century. I left school that day with tears welling up in my eyes. That was the day I had realized what was happening to the planet. Ever since then, I have been an advocate for climate change action.
At this point, everyone in a first-world country should know about the climate change crisis. We have been told timelessly, “turn off the lights when you leave the room.” “Reduce, reuse, recycle.” So on, and so on. These actions do have the power to help local ecosystems. However, the fate of the Earth’s habitat for human beings lies in the hands of massive industrial companies.
The burning of fossil fuels made by our vehicles in our daily commute is minuscule compared to the factories, pipelines, and other instruments of monopolies around the world. That being said, this is not an excuse to ignore these environmentally friendly dogmas. This goes to say that while we as individuals can make decisions that benefit the planet, individuals in positions of ultimate power are the ones who can act proactively to secure our future.
The more I read scientific journals and peer-reviewed studies, my feelings about this topic have only grown much stronger. I could pour the entire bottle of statistics onto this piece, but that will not serve my purpose. The idea is to help people, specifically those who do not pay attention to science, become aware of these studies.
There are not enough political leaders focusing on environmental issues. There are not enough countries in the UN pushing the world’s biggest polluters, China, and India, to enforce methane gas regulations. There are not enough people caring.
Many people play the whole thing off as a concern for generations to come. Possibly, we are blowing the situation out of proportion. The truth is the world is only changing so gradually.
My generation will be gray-haired when ocean levels have engulfed the entire peninsula of Florida. Our children will not know 50% of the animals we know of today. According to a major report done by WWF, we’ve already driven sixty percent of animals into extinction since the seventies. Go ahead and peg me as a pessimist, but the world will be a dystopia if world leaders do not take urgent action.
