November is here, which means winter is coming, and so is our demise. Why are we surprised when natural disasters occur? The Earth is simply trying to fight back against the virus we call “humanity.”
The overpopulation of the world and carelessness of its inhabitants have caused environmental issues that can’t be ignored. While there is plenty of land to go around for everyone in the world, the human race, according to youthconect.in, is using 50 percent more than the earth’s available resources.
The main problem is that people just don’t care or don’t believe that overusing resources is possible. Even I, a self-declared environmentalist, do not always have time to recycle because I’m too focused on school and the upcoming election. Yet more people are killed annually by air pollution than are killed by automobile accidents. While 75 percent of Americans have participated in recycling at least once every year, 25 percent of Americans don’t recycle at all. Conservatives complain about immigrants “coming into America and stealing our jobs.” Little do they know, if everyone recycled, almost two million American jobs would be created.
As of October 2016, 58 percent of the world’s population of various birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians and mammals have declined since 1970. In attempt to save certain animals and cut back on industrialized foods, there’s been an increase in people who choose vegan and vegetarian diets in America. Vegans and vegetarians are often shamed for their dietary choices though, despite the fact that their choices significantly help the planet. According to The Guardian, omnivorous diets require excessive amounts of water because of the amount of water needed to produce meat, and cause deforestation of land to build factories and farms for mass production of livestock. People are going hungry all over the world, yet America alone throws away $165 million worth of food every year. More factories are clearly not needed to make food that’s just going to be thrown out anyway.
It makes me lose my faith in humanity when Shailene Woodley is getting arrested for protesting a harmful pipeline while the rest of America is complaining about the slight increase in gas prices from 2015-2016. Trust me, when we’re all scavenging for clean water, the price of gas will be the least of our problems.
Everyone needs to stop putting off the war that matters: the war between us and everything we’re doing to destroy the environment. The earth needs more attention than ever before. The fact that bees have been put on the endangered species list shows us how careful we need to be. The great barrier reef is dying because of the ocean overheating.
Much like in the beloved series “Game of Thrones,” people are ignoring the most important battle: climate change. We are, without a doubt, focusing too much on political issues. I promise that after we save the earth, the elephant and the donkey will still be around to duke it out. This is not the case, however, if elephants are extinct by then.
The majority of the human race is selfish and thoughtless and if we just stand by and watch the world around us crumble, we deserve what’s coming to us. If we don’t moderate our harmful practices, there won’t be anymore “us” to write about. People need to stop focusing on things that don’t matter like sports and celebrities and focus instead on fixing our global home. The human race needs to team up and we need to do it now.