Is the Climate Really Changing?

This may seem like an odd question. But it’s me, the Question Guy. In my day-to-day life, I’m rarely impacted by the effects of climate change. Maybe I live in a bubble. Maybe I’m ignoring reality. Are the stories real? I need to find out. Let’s investigate together.

Some time ago, I wrote a story about Tammy. Tammy was a young girl, introverted, and very much a science nerd. She had an innate need to discover – to find things out. And she loved nature. So much so, she had her own bug collection (much to her mother’s chagrin). As she grew older, she found that she could not get enough of the outdoors. She loved studying rocks, trees, and the forest ecosystems.

Tammy was at home in the outdoors. She always carried a backpack with her equipment: binoculars, tweezers, a net, some plastic bags, disposable latex gloves, and a notebook. She wrote down everything she witnessed. With her bicycle and cell phone, she was free to discover.

Tammy made the most of her resources exploring her neighborhood or area camping grounds. She started a YouTube channel, a vlog, and began sharing her explorations with the world. She posted weekly the things she found most interesting.??

As a teenager, she invested much of her time studying wildlife ecosystems. She found that with the continued construction of new housing units, both apartment and commercial, the natural wildlife in her area was losing ground, literally and figuratively. Although she appreciated having new neighbors, she could hardly understand why there were so many apartments under construction. How many people planned on moving into her neighborhood? Her feelings of sadness and anger motivated her into action. She wanted to do something about the loss of the wildlife habitat. She went to her teacher to find out if there was something she could do. This one action changed her life forever.?

Deforestation Causes Climate Change

Then it hit her – Tammy’s local community was experiencing deforestation. Although this was not a large rain forest, the removal of trees from the natural habitat in her community was, in fact, deforestation. We see deforestation at the community level often. In the name of growth, we are choosing to remove a very vital component to our own habitat.

Trees store carbon. With fewer trees on the planet, less carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere. This results in a continual warming effect. This warming results in a negative impact felt across the planet. Ocean levels are rising. Weather patterns are less predictable. Ecosystems are becoming less sustainable. This is a problem.

But it’s Someone Else’s Problem

Maybe it is. And if it is someone else’s problem, then whose problem is it? Many of us enjoy the benefits of driving cars with combustion engines and living in homes with natural fireplaces. The problem is – if we continue to take from the environment without replacing anything, then there will be fewer natural resources to sustain life on the planet. Period – without the proper balance of natural resources – life on the planet with die.

Meet Damien Mulligan

Was it wrong to have children? Yes, this is an actual question. How should you answer it? When I spoke with Damien earlier this year (2022), he told me that a young couple posed this question to him in one of his talks. This young couple was concerned about the long-term implications of climate change. The concerns are real. Climate change is causing anxiety in people.

What are the long-term implications of climate change?

How will our children deal with it?

The term is ‘climate’ or ‘eco-anxiety’. Psychologists and scientists acknowledge that people do fear the potential long-term implications of climate change. Eco-anxiety is the general awareness and fear of climate change and its negative impact on our future. A person’s level of anxiety is directly related to a person’s perception of their own ability to respond positively to the effects of climate change.

Hollywood Tells the Story

?The people in Hollywood have been warning us about the impacts of climate change for decades. Movies such as ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ tell us three things.

1.?????Disaster is evident

2.?????People in government don’t care (or don’t care enough)

3.?????Many people will die

Although this sounds extreme, the reality if not too far from these fictional tales. The peculiarities of natural phenomenon are on the rise. Floodings, heat waves, droughts, and unpredictable weather patterns are occurring in increased frequency. This disrupts industrial systems that manage our food supply and other natural resources. With the planet now reaching its 8 billion people population mark, this should be an area of concern for more of us.

It's Time for Action

What type of action(s) can we take? According to Damien, there are things that each one of us can do. Individually, our efforts may not have great impact. However, as communities, we have the advantage of numbers – and numbers create change! We need to think in term of sustainability.

Damien wants us to act. His motto – ELTC. This means: Every Little Thing Counts. Even small, but intentional, actions can re-create the natural balance of resource on the planet. We must act now if we are going to make substantial change. And we must act in large numbers.

We must also separate fact from fiction. We must be able to respond to the current situation with specific change actions. Damien offers us the follow suggestions.

We are part of a global village. As individuals, we can look to some areas of our own lives to influence change:

??Convert to renewable energy and reduce energy use

??Replace at least some beef meals with other proteins

??Curtail our fashion and consumer electronics purchases to what we genuinely need

As global citizens we can use our influence by discussing and sharing with others our concerns about climate and what we do about those concerns, along with advocating for climate action policy change. You’ll be surprised how many people will join you.

#EveryLittleThingCounts

Thanks for reading!

Credit for images: www.pixabay.com