Killing our Planet. Sadly this is something we’ve been doing for centuries. Some may say it’s progress and evolution, but the truth is, if we don’t stop we will be killing the Planet and killing ourselves. Now we know we can do things in a better way, so it’s time to let go of the past and embrace our future with both arms.
How did it start?
It started in England in the second half of the 18th century with the First Industrial Revolution. This was a period where societies mainly agrarian became industrialised. The power of steam helped this revolution, with the introduction of machinery that would ramp up manufacturing. The products, now produced at a very high speed would also be rapidly transported by trains.
It is easy to see that, at the time, this was seen as a major achievement for our societies and a positive thing for all. More jobs, increased productivity, more products, faster travel. But now we see the damage it caused to our Planet.
Carbon Dioxide is one of the big contributors of greenhouse gases. Also, factories needed to dispose of their rubbish and with that came all sorts of pollution, not just the air pollution caused by the steam engines but the pollution in the rivers and land fields. Slowly, slowly we were killing our Planet with our technical and industrial development.
Can we stop it?
We certainly can. We have to. If we don’t stop it, it will kill us all. In the 18th century, we didn’t know about this, we were not developed enough to understand the consequences of these actions. But now it’s the 21st century, and we not only know the consequences of it but we know how to avoid it, so what are we waiting for?
It won’t happen overnight, it would be unrealistic to think we can change it that fast, but we can change it. We know what global warming is doing to our Planet. According to WHO, Europe suffered its biggest heatwave on record, in 2003. It killed more than 70.000 people in 12 countries. In other parts of the world, we have also seen the results of climate change and how it’s killing the planet. Last year Australia had the worse bushfire season on record. The country burned for almost 6 months. Thousands of animals and 33 people lost their lives.
We need to act. We can’t keep burying our head in the sand and deny it, it is real, it is happening and we are all responsible for it.
Is there hope for the future?
I want to believe there is. Renewable energies are a reality and we know we don’t need coal anymore. We learnt to recycle our rubbish, we learnt to make better choices, so we can do it.
We need commitment, we need leadership and empowerment to move forward. We need to educate our children to be responsible and make responsible choices. If we do it now, we still have hope for a better future and a better planet.