I got into a discussion this morning with a few of my fellow students concerning what needs to be done in order to save the planet. Of course, this forced the religious people to speak up, as well as the people that don’t care. Ironically, this discussion occurred in a science lab for my great ice age class…I don’t understand religious/”I don’t care” science people, but that is an entirely different matter.
Starting this last week, we have been required to read an article concerning glaciers and write a synopsis of that article. Obviously, there are not a lot of positive articles out there currently, due to the intense decrease of the glaciers around the world. This was the article that we were to read and have a discussion on, and this was the article that I read and wrote my synopsis about. It is a concern of most scientists that the glaciers are retreating and vanishing entirely, but your average person does not understand why that is a problem. In fact one of the average students in my class asked, “But hasn’t there been times on the planet before where there were no glaciers?”
This question struck me as amusing and horrifying since, yes, there were times when there were no glaciers (the carboniferous), however why are you concerned with that? You should be concerned with the fact that the sea level will rise and places like Florida will be flooded, and that the overall temperature will rise making places like Arizona inhospitable to live, AND that we will effectively kill off thousands of species because of our inaction to change the way that we live. But what you should be most concerned about is that we will lose the most valuable resource that we need to survive: freshwater. It has been calculated that 76% of the freshwater contained on this planet, is in glaciers. We humans, depend on the meltwater from those glaciers for drinking water, and if there are no more glaciers supplying that drinking water, there will be no freshwater. It will all be mixed with seawater in the oceans (and possibly shutting-down the thermohaline circulation disrupting the circulation of temperatures, densities, etc., in the ocean).
One of the other scientists in my class stated: “We would be killing off the biodiversity of the planet, but we could adapt to live indoors if necessary. Humans will survive.” My response, was that we wouldn’t have to, because the mass extinction will kill us all before we get to that point.
After a few more minutes, my TA told us that we should get back to work on the lab, and that next week we should all come in with an idea of something we can change about the way we live that would benefit the planet, however this was not the end of the discussion. I went back to my seat and my lab partner started saying that she doesn’t think that there will be a mass extinction. I proceeded to tell her that: “the evidence is stating there will be one, since the death of coral species has tended to be a sign for a mass extinction. In previous mass extinctions, the coral species died about 1,000 – 2,000 years in advance.” Following that statement, she started talking about what religious people think etc etc, I kind of droned her out after that, but this discussion got another student to turn around and join in. He said, “Do nothing. Mother Nature has a way of fixing things, especially after a mass extinction.”
This statement is really what got me thinking. Part of me was saying that this man is ridiculous. How can you not care about the future generations on this planet, about your children, and their children, about the survival of the human race. This side of me wanted to slap him across the face and yell at him for not even trying to save the planet. But the other part of me started wondering if maybe there was some merit to what he was saying. If the dinosaurs hadn’t gone extinct 65 million years ago, mammals would never have come to inherit the earth, and we would not be where we are today. Maybe all of the problems we are having right now is just nature trying to kill us off so that the next species will rule earth when we have gone extinct. But this leads to my main question which is: have we fucked up the planet so badly now, that when the mass extinction comes, there is no species left to survive it, due to the devastation we have caused on the environment? What if we have effectively ruined any life from ever living here again? What if there is no life anywhere else in the galaxy? We killed life.
Man, humans are going to have that on their conscience until the extinction…
You highlight an interesting perspective. I usually say that the planet’s worth saving but I’m not so sure about the human race. But if we’ve selfishly messed it up for all living creatures then it becomes harder for the planet not to die with us (or at least become more hostile to sustainable life). Scientific arguments (and all that palava) aside the chance of any meaningful future seems to be about who adapts best to and manages change smartly.If there are any more small blue green planets at the right distance from their suns then it’s probably your turn now.
By: emalyse on November 13, 2007
at 3:11 pm
Just to add to your list of all the alarming shit that would happen if the glaciers melted, it’s also worth mentioning that glaciers reflect sunlight back into space, reducing the amount of heat that’s generated when light hits the earth’s surface. Loss of the glaciers would cause a feedback loop where losing that reflectivity would cause the planet’s surface to heat up even more, further contributing to global warming.
And in response to emalyse:
I usually say that the planet’s worth saving but I’m not so sure about the human race.
We’re the first species inhabiting this planet that ever gave a rat’s ass about other less intelligent species. Do you think that the dinosaurs would have sat around thinking, “Man, we really fucked up this place. Maybe we should just die and let the squirrels take over?” We’re actually capable of caring about other species; we try to protect and preserve them; we try to look out for their interests. Doesn’t that say something about what our own species is capable of?
By: Morgan on November 13, 2007
at 4:48 pm
Morgan, you make a good point though wouldn’t that be the de facto stance of any self aware intelligent species?I guess it’s down to whether the good things we do outweigh the bad. I agree we (the human race) are capable of great things. I’m just not sure that we will achieve even a fraction of the positive things we’re capable of. Maybe our impending demise will help us focus on greater things or..er..maybe not . That’s not a self defeatist or anti-human race sentiment (or even a pro-squirrel stance) it’s just a slightly pessimistic view of the not too distant future concerning which I would be more than happy to be proved completely wrong about.
By: emalyse on November 14, 2007
at 8:45 am
I guess it’s down to whether the good things we do outweigh the bad.
Well, if the question we’re trying to answer is “Does the human race deserve to live?” I hope that we would base our moral calculus on a little more than pure consequentialism. But I admit to taking a dim view of pure consequentialist morality in general.
r even a pro-squirrel stance
Good, because if there’s one thing I can’t abide, it’s a pro-squirrel bias. Damn squirrels, climbing up your pant leg, biting the inside of your ass. “Get out of my ass you damn squirrels!”
By: Morgan on November 14, 2007
at 10:18 am
I agree that the human race is a caring species
ask any parent with children and or grandchildren if they care about them and the response would be an overwhelming 99.999%, more than anything else in the world they would tell you .Well the fact is they have to live on the planet we are leaving to them and we the parents are their role models and as so must talk to them ,spend time with them and show them that we are willing to take a stand against our governments to stop the burning of fossil fuels and start using sustainable renewable non polluting means of creating our needed energy and its already here ,such as the solar tower of power, wind turbines ,solar roof panels the list goes on and on ,the zap x , the tesla roadster and other electric cars available (who killed the electric car?)
Health and life itself is very precious and also a miracle in itself ,we are the only planet with a sun that is the right distance from it to sustain life that we know of ,within the sight of any telescope yet known to mankind.And we can see millions of light years with these telescopes find the closest
star in the universe , does not look to far ,does it?well it would take 100,thousand years with todays rockets to reach that star, to our moon it takes about 3 weeks with that same rocket which is just under 200,thousand miles ,in light travel takes about 1 light second (This is the speed that light travel in 1 second) so , if you can’t get to the nearest star in a thousand of your life times how are you going to get to a new planet? All of this to say if your children are going to have a home it
is here on earth.
If we are going to save our children from the fate
we are leading them to as oil consuming, war driven ,money hoarding consumerists.We must change our ways , and really show them we care
by taking action and letting governments know
that we want change if they can stop people from using pessticides on their lawns then surely they can force auto companies to start producing electric only cars , with factories that use and produce renewable only enegy ,the technology is here. The hitch is governments dont want to give up the trillions of dollars made on oil ,natural gas and dont forget hydrogen .We must change slow down think, go back to 1 income families and at the same time it will improve problems with stress ,divorce social upheavals ,traffic congestion
global warming loss of conection wuth your family unit and create a more peaceful planet .
Were all running around like rats in a cage humans were smarter than that some of us have figured it out, but were not sure how or what to do about it .
Talk to your children your freinds people you meet ,we can make this planet sustainable and a better place to live, everything that humans have created was first created in a humans mind and with careful planning and hard work and idea was eventually not an idea but a reality such as a computer a rocket a space station ecttt..
Well a sustainable peacefull planet is an idea I and many people have. Most of the technology is there, but some of the humans out there dont care their greed of money or power come before the well being of everone around them including their own children and yours .What are you going to do about it ,talk to your governments you alone cannot change the world but millions of voters can , start and elect your own government
if you can, one who will look at their children and know that any decisions they make will have concequences for the betterment or worsening of conditions for them and everone elses children.Our governments make the laws and the rules they decide where the money is spent so we must have a government whom will make decissions that are not based on money and power the healh of the planet and all that inhabit it cannot survive a planet does not need us ,we need the planet ,Cean air, water and soil ,the basics of life I think many People have lost that reality in our modern day society , without these basics nothing else is achievable NOTHING.Be kind to others were all in this together.
By: normand burnett on August 1, 2008
at 9:31 am