At this moment, I am feeling buoyed by the recent show of support by millions of people around the world for tackling global warming (October 24 Day of Action, see the ‘People Are Waking Up’ posting on this site).  

     But that’s not how I usually feel.  Much of the time I am worried and anxious.  I can’t believe that so many Americans–in fact, most Americans, according to some research–do not regard global warming as anything to worry about.  Global warming came in dead last in a recent survey asking people to rank a list of 20 societal problems in order of seriousness.      

     The overwhelming majority of climate scientists  are persuaded that global warming is real.  They say that if it continues unchecked, it will result in great suffering for humans and many other species.  So why, I ask, do so many of my fellow citizens remain unconcerned?  And worse, why do some people deny global warming as a lie, a hoax!  Even some Members of  Congress, arguably the body that can do more than any group in the world to address global warming, refuse to take the problem seriously!  (I am hopeful that Congress will enact climate change legislation this year, although the bill under consideration is little more than a baby step in the right direction.)

     So why are so many people unconcerned about global warming?  I’ve been mulling the question for quite awhile, and here is what I have come up with: 

     First, I believe it is very hard for people to imagine a future that is much different from the present.  In our minds, the future looks like an extension of what we see around us right now.  Our comfortable, middle-class homes, the abundant, affordable food in the grocery store, readily available clean water, the opportunity to drive wherever and whenever we please, our easy access to amusements of all sorts–all seem like rights to which we are entitled.   And they all depend on massive carbon emissions.

     Not only is it difficult to imagine the future with any accuracy; we don’t want to try.  It’s frightening.  After all, who really wants to visualize our children and grandchildren fighting for survival on a planet transformed by persistent, widespread drought, social upheaval, and an impoverished biosphere, characterized by decline and extinctions of a great many animal and plant species?

     Besides, we have nothing from the past to draw on in addressing global warming.  Unlike other critical issues humanity has struggled with for millennia–war, famine, poverty, disease, etc.,–global warming is without precendent.  Many wise people have offered guidance for dealing with the serious issues humans have faced throughout history, but we have nowhere to turn for help with this one except ourselves.  We are in uncharted territory, and it’s scary.     

     In addition, for now, at least, we can turn away from the damage global warming has already caused.  We don’t have to look at the polar bears drowning as the Arctic ice melts.  We can avoid listening to the people of the Maldives beg the rest of the world to keep their island home from disappearing under a rising sea.  We can believe, for at least awhile longer, that we can continue to live in the relative luxury to which we have become accustomed.

     But the biggest reason this planetary emergency is so widely ignored, I think, is a spiritual one.  Most of the world’s societies today have become so oriented toward the material that nature has become little more than the backdrop against which we live our lives.  As America and the other industrialized countries have become richer, more able to secure comforts, appliances, and amusements, our lives have become increasingly oriented toward the environments of our own creation.  We have turned increasingly away from the natural environment, the core of what truly sustains us.

     I can’t bring myself to end this piece on such a pessimistic note.  So, if you are still reading, I do have some thoughts about how to get out of this mess! 

     First, we must face the truth.  Global warming is real, and we should educate ourselves about it.  Quality research and accurate information are abundantly available.  While I believe that the actions we take as individuals, groups, and businesses to lessen our carbon footprint are important, it is much more important to focus our efforts on educating and pressuring our government to take decisive action.  The federal government can make much more sweeping change than any of us can, acting independently.  We citizens should educate our elected officials and elect people who will make dealing with global warming their top priority.

     For me, I have recently decided that I need to work with others to tackle global wrming.  I can at least be a little more effective than I can working alone in just my infinitesimal, individual ways.  Besides, the best antidote I know for the pain and despair I so often feel about global warming is to engage in action.

     Am I too gloomy?  Do you agree with me?  How do you deal with the cloud of global warming over your own life?  I hope to generate a discussion here on www.TheEarthConnection.org.  I invite your thoughts.–April Moore

This entry was posted on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 11:15 am and is filed under Celebrating our beautiful Earth. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.