Blog Action Day: The Environment
Dette er den engelske versjonen av min Blog Action Day-artikkel. For å lese den norske versjonen, klikk her.
This is the seventh time I’m starting on this article. I just don’t know where to start…If I start writing about the environment I will end up with a book about the same things that people have written earlier. I have tried preparing myself for writing this article for some weeks now, and I have several hand-written pages in front of me in addition to some drafts in my Wordpress. From all this material, I will try to short it down to the things I see as most important:
Our environment, and thus also our planet, is in danger. Over the last 200 years we have developed industry and technology to make our lives simpler and safer, and as a result we now have a massive energy consumption, much of which is non-renewable energy, like oil and gas. Using this energy, we are releasing massive amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into Earths atmosphere, and plants that usually use all this carbon dioxide in the photosynthesis, but we have exceeded the amount of carbon that keeps the atmosphere’s carbon circulation stable. The energy that we consume is sent out of Earth’s atmosphere, but with the overflow of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, much of this energy stays in the atmosphere in form of heat (the greenhouse effect), and with enough of that heat, the massive amounts of ice on the north- and south pole will melt. If they melt, the sea level will have a significant rise, and flood the lowlands of the Earth. This is common knowledge, at least here in Norway, but people don’t seem to do anything about it. You could just as well wear a t-shirt that says “I’m against global warming” - it won’t make any difference. One has to do, not just say. Do something about it! Here is a list of 50 things you can do to limit CO2-emittings from your very own home, and limit your energy consumption in general. Some of these things might seem small and insignificant, but everything counts! Like my father always say: “A nickle here, and a nickle there…” - before you know it, you’re a millionaire! However, if you ARE going to buy a t-shirt that shares an important message, I hope you’ll might buy this t-shirt from The Imaginary Foundation:
Don’t get me wrong, I am not blaming you for global warming. I put blame to humanity as a whole, but most of all to industry (especially american oil industry) that in spite of this common knowledge continue to release enormous amounts of carbon dioxide. Regarding the US, I guess one can’t expect anything else. “Dubya” himself used to run an oil company (several actually) and decided not to ratify the Kyoto Protocol after only two (2!) months in office (march 2001). If my memory is correct I think I remember Bush winning (or by some claims, he, or someone loyal to him, cheated) the 2000 Presidential election. His opponent was Al Gore - you do know who Al Gore is, right? He was recently awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on spreading climate-, environmental-, and global warming awareness, which is summarized in Davis Guggenheims documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” (IMDb), a documentary I urge everyone to watch.
I would like to congratulate Al Gore on winning the Peace Prize, and I sincerely hope he will try to run for the presidency once more. The leader of the United States has since the 1940’s been the so-called “leader of the free world”, and where he goes, other will follow. If our planet is going to defeat the catastrophy that is now closing in on us, we need a man like Al Gore to lead this so-called “free world”. I generally don’t support his politics, but this point on his agenda has a monstrous importance.
Before ending this article, I would like to set focus to Darfur, Sudan. In Darfur, global warming has dried out rivers and lakes, and thus animals and vegetation (thereby also vegetables and fruits) can not survive there. This has lead to a massive lack of water and food for the people who live there, and hundreds of thousands of people have died. Tribal wars have been triggered and people killed by something as simple as water and food. Is this really how the world is going to end?
Some articles about the Darfur crisis and the environment:
- Darfur conflict heralds era of wars triggered by climate change, UN report warns - The Guardian
- Darfur conflict hurting environment - USA Today
Relaterte innlegg
Kategorier: Politikk | Stikkord:blog action day, blogg, English, Filosofering, miljø, Skriblerier
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[...] This is the Norwegian version of my Blog Action Day-article. To read the English version, click this link. [...]