Earth
Our climate is changing
Our actions are causing it
The world's poorest people are already suffering as a result
But we can do something about it
Our Earth
There is just one Earth that we all have to live on. Unfortunately if everybody in the world lived in the same way that we do in the UK and in other high-income countries, we would need three planets to support us . That means we are using up far more than our fair share of our world's natural resources and doing so at an unrealistic and unsustainable rate. We are essentially mortgaging our future to fund our lifestyles today. Not only that, but our actions are also already affecting some of our world's poorest and most vulnerable people. Our choice of transportation, the food we eat and the energy we use all come at a far higher cost than it appears to be at face value. We are all part of the same Earth, the only Earth that we have. We are all connected and we all need to take responsibility for loving the Earth and everything in it.
What's the Problem?
It might not always feel like it, but our climate is changing. Eleven of the last twelve years have been in the top twelve warmest years on record, and the average temperature of the Earth continues to rise. These increases in temperature are due to an increase in certain waste gases which are present in our atmosphere. These ‘greenhouse gases' have always been present in our atmosphere, and they have helped to sustain life on Earth by providing us with insulation to stop losing back out into space all the heat we receive from the Sun. However, we now have far more of these gases present in our atmosphere than ever before, upsetting the delicate balance which up until now has allowed our Earth to survive.
What's it got to do with me?
The increase of these gases in our atmosphere is largely caused by human activity. Specifically it is the burning of ‘fossil fuels' which is carried out to produce the energy needed for the continuous increase in the production of goods. The more material that we produce, or non-renewable energy that we use, the more waste gases are released into our atmosphere. It is our actions that are contributing to a build-up of these gases - everything that we buy, everything that we use and everything that we throw away, all has an impact and all has an effect on our Earth, and all the people in it.
Why should I care?
We usually think of climate change as a harrowing vision for the future, an ‘alternate reality' that may or may not come to be. However, the fact is that climate change is a reality now. Already the effects of this changing climate are causing the deaths of over 300,000 people every year and 325 million people are severely affected. It is the poorest people of our Earth who are most at risk now, and will be most at risk from any further changes to our climate. Not only that, but over 90% of climate-related deaths are due to changes to the environment which result in increased malnutrition or disease , rather than through the weather-related disasters that we typically associate with climate change. It is these people who will suffer most, yet they have contributed least to the problem - the average person in the world's least developed countries produces just 0.2 tonnes of CO2 a year, whereas on the other hand the average person in the UK produces 9.8 tonnes - that's almost 50 times as much!
Basically, if you care about people, you need to care about the Earth, because at the moment our Earth, through our actions, is harming our global neighbours in developing communities throughout the world.