A study published in the journal Science and quoted in Time and elsewhere states that the world’s glaciers are shrinking and disappearing faster than scientists thought, with two-thirds of them projected to melt out of existence by the end of the century at current climate change trends.
We can slow down the thaw “if the world can limit future warming to just a few more tenths of a degree and fulfill international goals,” say the authors of the study, but even they admit that it is “technically possible but unlikely.” In other words, humanity, again, is the problem.
“Everyone knows what to do in order to slow down the melting, but the profit that governments and powerful corporations make from industries that accelerate global warming are too big of a bait to resist.”
Scientists have been warning about melting icebergs for decades, but so far, we have been reluctant to do what it takes to stop it. Everyone knows what to do in order to slow down the melting, but the profit that governments and powerful corporations make from industries that accelerate global warming are too big of a bait to resist.
The rising sea level, by the way, is only one of the dangers lurking in the melting icebergs. A potentially worse problem is the release of viruses and bacteria that are currently kept dormant under the ice, but will awaken once the ice is gone and the temperature rises. This process is already underway, but so far, according to scientists, we have been lucky and no serious pathogens have been discovered in the melting permafrost.
Another problem is the release of methane gas, which is currently locked in the frozen lands of Siberia and Alaska. The methane is already being emitted into the atmosphere as the ice is melting and its impact is accumulative.
Regrettably, as scientists fear, we are unable to make the necessary changes, even though they are recognized and workable. At the current level of antagonism that saturates every faction of human society, there is no chance that companies or governments will do anything for the sake of humanity unless it serves their own interests.
“At the current level of antagonism that saturates every faction of human society, there is no chance that companies or governments will do anything for the sake of humanity unless it serves their own interests.”
Melting glaciers is far from being the only problem that threatens humanity. War, pollution, inflation, oppression, slavery, hunger, depression, substance abuse, pandemics, extreme climate events, from severe droughts to extreme storms, is there one problem that does not stem from humanity’s concentration only on its own interests? It makes no difference who does the harm, since in the end, everyone is a culprit: Every person on the planet participates in depleting, polluting, and exploiting the soil, water, air, animals, and people. The more powerful the person or the institution, the more exploitative they are, but the trend is the same everywhere and for all people.
Therefore, the solution must be comprehensive and address the root of the problem rather than each symptom separately. Focusing on one crisis at a time, be it climate change or deforestation, or war, or hunger, or water pollution, or any other problem—will only exacerbate the problems rather than alleviate them, since it will distract us from the root cause and its only possible solution: changing our attitude to one another and to our surroundings, in that order.
“We must teach ourselves to care for one another. Since this is very difficult to do, since we do not want to care for one another, we must teach ourselves about our mutual dependence—that if we hurt others, it hurts us.”
We must teach ourselves to care for one another. Since this is very difficult to do, since we do not want to care for one another, we must teach ourselves about our mutual dependence—that if we hurt others, it hurts us.
Also, because we are all culprits, we must teach this everywhere and to everyone, without exception.
Once we establish mutual care, it will be easier to facilitate a workable and successful policy and follow it. Our awareness that we are obligated to follow it if we ourselves do not want to be hurt will make us abide by the regulations that will facilitate a difference in human society and in our relation to the planet as a whole.
