Conversations with Planet Earth

Check out my annual “State of Sustainability” conversation with the Planet Earth. Each year, I check in and see how things are going with the home planet. I provide a transcript of this year's conversation below:

Me: Earth, it has been a year since we last talked, how are you?

Earth:?Good, considering that I have a fever.

Me:?A fever?

Earth:?Just like you, I get a fever when I am sick. I just took my temperature, and I am at 1.1 degrees centigrade.

Me: Earth, that doesn’t sound too bad. That is a 100.6 degree fever in Fahrenheit. You will be fine.

Earth:?Thanks for trying to calm me down, but a fever is also a sign of an infection. And, well…I am worried that I might have an infection.

Me: Earth, you can’t get COVID. You are a planet!

Earth:?What I have is something worse, a new kind of infection for me - one that I have never encountered before. I don’t know what to do.

Me: You are strong, you can ward off anything. You have before. Remember that time when that comet hit the Yucatan Peninsula and you lost 75% of all species on the planet. You recovered quite nicely.?In fact, that is how we Humans came to replace the dinosaur. A good result, in my opinion.

Earth:?Yes, that was a painful period. I did recover, but at a great price. And, by the way, ?you Humans aren’t as great as you think you are.

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Me: In fact, getting back to the fever...aren’t you supposed to get warmer and cooler over time, like a natural cycle. I always heard that global warming was just part of a natural cycle.

Earth:?Yes, I was prepared for my normal warming period. I was actually enjoying it. But this is different, I don’t feel right, and I think I figured out what is wrong with me

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Me: What is it?

Earth:?You!

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Me: You mean me personally?

Earth:?No, you self-centered fool. The Human Race is the problem! The Human Race is the infection that is causing the fever!

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Me: Earth. Calm down. Let’s figure this out together.?We already know you were supposed to be getting warmer, so what’s the big deal. Please explain.

Earth:?Okay, let me lay it out it out for you. 1. I go through very long cycles of warming and cooling. 2. I am in a warming period right now - very normal. You Humans call it the interglacial – the period between Ice Ages. 3. Here is the problem. I am warming way faster than I should be, like a fever. 4. You humans and your actions have added to the warming trend and you have thrown me off balance and put me in a painful situation.

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Me: Earth. We only added a bit more warming than expected. What’s the big deal?

Earth:?Not to get too technical, but I am a complex organism. A small, tiny change in my system can have major effects, even catastrophic effects.

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Me: You mean like that whole crazy Butterfly Effect from Chaos Theory? A butterfly flaps its wings, and a tornado eventually occurs. C’mon now.

Earth:?Well, it’s true. Here is an example: Tiny changes in the pattern of my orbit of the sun cause of my warming and cooling periods, and now you Humans went and threw off a very delicate pattern.

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Me: Okay but its not a big deal, you will be fine.

Earth: Yes, I will be fine, But you won’t!

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Me: Now you have me worried, what do you mean?

Earth: You know all those “natural disasters”? Those are the first outward signs of the effects of the virus.

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Me: We are very smart. We are resilient. We can bounce back from these climate related events.

Earth: Maybe, but the fever is not only getting worse, it is growing bigger and faster. It is growing an exponential rate.

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Me: But I think we won’t see the worst effects until 2100, By then our technology will have saved us.

Earth: Wrong. This virus is much worse and much stronger than originally thought. The year 2035 is the new year 2100. You will be experiencing catastrophic events?like the ones described in 2100 in just 15 years. Did you see what happened in Colorado this week?

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Me: You are ruining my new year's conversation. We are supposed to be inspiring people, giving them hope.

Earth: I am inspiring action. I am hoping humanity will wake up and take notice. I have a fever and it is getting worse.

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Me: Well gee. We are planting trees, driving electric cars, heading towards net-zero-energy and carbon. We are doing a lot!

Earth: That’s great, and it helps, but I need to you to know you will need to hit bottom before you come back up. Please, please, please start preparing.

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Me: Well, Earth, I am not one of those doomsday preppers with an air raid shelter under back yard. That’s not for me.

Earth: Think bigger.?Answer these questions: Where will humans live after the coasts are gone? Where will humans get their water after the mountain glaciers are gone? Where will Humans get their food after the crops have dried up? In short, I am asking you to consider a new term: SURVIVABILITY.

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Me: I think you miss-spoke. Didn’t you mean to say Sustainability?

Earth: NO! You can not sustain what you have already destroyed! I am talking about a new concept. A bold concept where humanity finally wakes up and sees the writing on the wall. I am talking about Survivability, A paradigm that urges humanity to come together, work together, and act together, all in the name of Humanity’s survival.

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Me: That is a tall order. What is the first step?

Earth There are no steps. Start with Love. Love each other, Love all the creatures. Love ME!

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Me: That sounds great, but last I checked, We are more divided as a species than ever. We can't even agree on simple things like the truth. How in the YOU, can we ever get back to love?

Earth: When you act out of love, you start to see yourselves as a part of a giant living eco-system. Use love to rediscover your place on Earth. The Hunter Gatherers used love and they built a model for co-evolution with me - World view of interdependence and connectivity. You can transcend and include that model and set a new paradigm going forward – a new model of co-evolution.

Me: Co-evolution sounds great, but that is not going to save us from all these disasters.

Earth: No, it won't save you in the short term but you have to start changing the way you think, change your mental paradigm before you start taking actions. It will soften your ride down to the bottom and provide the basis for a new world view after.

Me: So….I guess recycling and buying an electric car is only part of the solution. We need to be leaders, thinkers, writers, designers, artists and more, all working with compassion to build a new world view based on love, empathy and co-evolution!

Earth: Yes, it is better to start that way, and everything else will start to change organically.

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Me: Thanks Earth, I feel like we need to know more, but our time is up for today.?I guess we will have to wait until next year to learn more about co-evolution.

Earth: You are welcome. Yes, we’ll talk again next year.

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