The Health of Planet Earth
We have all been told for decades that climate change and global warming are wreaking havoc on our world. But we are too busy in our own lives to give it much thought. Some of us struggle just to get a roof over our heads and food on the table. The good news is that there are little things you can do everyday to show your love for our beloved earth. You can try biking when you need to travel short distances. You can also try a few plant-based meals every week and then progress, when you are ready. And you can learn more about how to help.
We all love forests. Some of us love to camp in them. We love to hike in them. And many of us love to see wildlife in their natural habitat. What a thrill it is to see a herd of bison or a wild moose.
Can you imagine life without majestic forests? Did you know humans have been destroying millions of acres of forests every year for decades? Can you guess how many acres of forests have been destroyed in the past 100 years? The numbers are astounding! It is estimated that earth has lost about half of its forests. This amounts to the coverage of land making up 2 United States of America. That’s crazy! But what’s even crazier is that we aren’t stopping.
Why have we lost so many carbon dioxide absorbing trees? And why are we continuing to cut them down by the millions every year? We still don’t truly know the consequences of this loss.
https://ourworldindata.org/world-lost-one-third-forests
The number one reason for all of this destruction is to create land for agriculture. These fields of crops are not for humans to have more food. Most of these new fields are planted for food to feed the billions of animals kept alive for humans to eat meat and consume dairy products.
https://earth.org/how-does-deforestation-affect-the-environment/
https://www.ifaw.org/journal/what-is-deforestation-impact-wildlife
“We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last who can do something about it.”
- Barack Obama
What can you do to make a difference?
For one thing, you can think about the way that you eat. Besides reducing the destruction of forests, by choosing not to eat so many animal sourced foods, we can also choose to eat foods that have lower carbon footprints.
“The climate impact of food is measured in terms of greenhouse gas emission intensity. The emission intensity is expressed in kilograms of “carbon dioxide equivalents” – which includes not only carbon dioxide but all greenhouse gases – per kilogram of food, per gram of protein or per calorie. This is also called a carbon footprint.
Animal-based foods, especially red meat, dairy, and farmed shrimp, are generally associated with the highest greenhouse gas emissions.
Plant-based foods – such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans, peas, nuts, and lentils – generally use less energy, land, and water, and have lower greenhouse gas intensities than animal-based foods.”
- United Nations
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/climate-issues/food
“Forests are the world’s air-conditioning system - the lungs of the planet - and we are on the verge of switching it off.”
-Prince Charlies
Greenhouse gases get their name from their ability to trap heat in the atmosphere and warm the planet kind of how the solar heat from the sun can heat a greenhouse in the middle of the winter. The heat has no way to escape.
What’s wrong with a warmer planet?
We are not certain what will happen but some scientists believe that our fresh water resources could significantly dry up and then it will be a fight for what’s left. Eventually, there may not be enough fresh water for everyone. For example, the Colorado River provides water to approximately 40 million people. People who live in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Nevada all share the water that flows from this important resource. Drought and overuse could cause the river to lose even more water. The states that use this river will need to learn how to share and to cut back on usage.
“Carbon dioxide emissions are one culprit. The mass amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases produced by human business, transportation, deforestation, and fossil fuel usage, rise into the air where they prevent the heat from the sun from bouncing back out to space. As a result, temperatures rise, and glaciers melt.
This heat warms up the oceans and air temperatures. These large bodies of water absorb 90% of the Earth's total warmth, meaning that sea ice floating in the ocean are subject to higher temperatures and naturally melt more quickly as a result. This particularly affects the marine ice sheets located near the two global poles and along the coasts of Alaska.” - World Atlas
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-are-the-effects-of-melting-glaciers.html
Rising sea temperatures are predicted to interfere with coastal towns and cities. How high will levels rise? That is the big questions. Most predict one to six feet.
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-sea-level
“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
—Dr. Jane Goodall, Primatologist
We are all connected.
When our waterfalls, rivers and lakes dry up in North America, they are also drying up on the other side of the world.
When we lose the Great Barrier Reef, we lose other reefs as well.
When we eat up all the small animals of the sea, we kill the large ones too, because we are eating the food they need to survive.
So much damage, simply because of what we like to eat. But humans are smart and I believe that together we can help all living things thrive on our precious planet. One meal at a time.