I am no expert. The first time I came across climate change which was known as global warming at that time was in my childhood years around 2005. It was this new crisis that I wasn’t paying much attention to because in my human nature I found it difficult to believe that which I could not see.
The solutions back then were simple, plant trees. That’s all I knew to combat this vague threat. I joined wildlife clubs to help in this cause. A naïve child like me did it for the fun of nature walks, No way did I ever come to imagine that all that was in actual threat.
Years later into my late teens is when I started to understand the true threat. It was less of the innocent feel I thought it had then but more of a nightmare that is was inevitable. In my home town in Kenya I started to notice one strange shift in our weather pattern. Rain seasons started to delay and when they did fall, they did so with intensity destroying crops and causing floods big enough to destroy homes.
I began to study further into this climate change and realized how little I knew it was shaming. Majority of the scientists had one thing in common, they all believed human activity was the only cause.
I believe humans are explorers by nature, the fact that men tamed the seas to search for new lands and the sky is incredible. But we are also conquerors, destroyers of civilizations, war is not uncommon with our history and we declared war with nature the moment we realized we could. We have wiped out entire species of animals. This is because we as an extremely egoistic species believe that the planet is ours. We share this planet with creatures more beautiful than we will ever be. Our responsibility is to protect them and make them grow. I do not want to live in a world without animals. We do not deserve this planet. Never have and never will.
By 2040 it would be possible to sail in the North Pole and that it may even be earlier with current estimates changing rapidly. Small island nations and areas in the coastal regions will be engulfed, storms and droughts become more catastrophic and it is only the beginning.
I am lucky to have been guided towards this information and I pledge that in my lifetime I will do whatever it takes to help this planet. Let us pay our rent. The real shame comes to those who have the information who choose to do nothing and deny it with extreme vigour.
America set the gold standard when they landed man on the moon. The whole world metaphorically looks up to them. They have the biggest responsibility to set an example and help developing countries transition before its too late. This is because they are the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases in all of history. It’s also a shame that they are led by those who discredit this information as if it was made only to attack them and no one else. They know that by dividing the public is all it takes to have their way. False information backed by a minority of scientists who are likely influenced. All this is to satisfy their own interests. It is safe to assume that they represent the worst of humanity in this “free world”.
Leaders do what the public wants and if we push this cause it will be impossible to ignore it. I salute great minds such as Elon Musk that have made technological advancements to a sustainable future. Hope is there. Imagine a world free of toxic air, a peaceful world, a happy world. Carl Sagan pointed out in his famous view of our world that we are a mote of dust in a sunbeam. Not just a mote but the mote. Earth is the only home we have ever known and it will be ours for many more years to come and it is necessary to take care of it. The time to work together has never been more crucial to have a survivable future.