Now before you stand up and shout “yippee!” please sit back down and put it into context. OK, so let’s just say for arguments sake that Jupiter is warming up at the same rate as Earth and this all comes down something other than mans presence on Earth.
But what about our rivers and our air pollution? We’re in a dreadful state at the moment and finding out that Jupiter is also warming up doesn’t change the fact that people die every year because of air pollution or that many species of animal have become extinct due to polluted rivers and deforestation.
A fresh water dolphin found only in the rivers of China are thought to be extinct and its cousin in India is heading the same way. There are more human deaths caused by air pollution than automobile accidents and in 2005 it was thought that 310,000 people in Europe died because of air pollution. Our rivers and oceans are so polluted with Mercury and God knows what that the fish we eat could give us Cancer.
Don’t think for a moment that we can get away with pumping all sorts of crap into our water and air and get away with it? We simply cannot keep going the way we are. Did you know that if everyone on the planet lived like an American we would need 5 planets? If we all lived like a Brit we would need 3.5. However if we lived a basic life like they do in Afghanistan we would only need a fraction of the world’s resources.
Western life is very addictive and the thought of being without my car or not having lots of nice treats like wine and chocolate horrifies me, but this addiction to “stuff” is going to be our undoing. Perhaps a world without humans wouldn’t be such a bad thing?
April, I said it before and I’ll say it again… you are PROLIFIC!
I support environmentalism for what it means today and tomorrow, not what it may or may not mean in 100 years. I like to breath clean air and drink clean water. That is reason enough for me - not what is “supposedly” “scientifically” “proven” beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Good post.