CNN came out with a report by the World Wildlife Fund that we are on the brink of the 6th mass extinction. I thought that it was a simple opinion piece about humans and what damaged we have caused. But there are certain facts and figures that are concrete to lead to this statement. By 2020, nearly 3/4’s of the worlds species will be gone. I wrote in my About Me page what i thought about life in general and previous extinctions and how valuable life was. And now I’m alive in a time to tell about the next one.
The world was always pictured as so vast and unconquerable. No way could man deplete all of its resources and destroy the wildlife. But in such a short amount of time relative to the existence of humans have we been able to expand and consume so much. The world is at our fingertips to exploit and nearly command for our use. There is no free land undiscovered out there, there is no area that man has no left its imprint. We take what we want and what we need. And we want a LOT.
The amount of food we consume and resources we need makes it affect all over the world. For any thing we build or cow we eat, it causes someone 1000 miles away to destroy their environment. It is a bad game with a huge disconnect. We can not see or feel the impact of our decisions. We buy and use things without understanding all the implications. Though times are changing and people become more educated, are we fast enough?
Trees are cleared for timber and forests for farmland. The seas are wound in miles long nets for fish. Even the Dakota Access Pipeline in the US adheres to the need for energy consumption. Water and even moral rights are abused. This just makes me think what is important to people. We are happy with our phones and fancy cars while the world crumbles around us. And the poor give into the production of our needs because they just need something to eat. It is a very bad combination.
It goes back to the Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton election and what people yearn for. How can you get somebody to care for the environment and animals when they can’t feed their families or roofs over their heads. What is going to take precedent? My life or some animal. Things take priority and environment and animal life take a back seat. I honestly can not blame them. I sit here with all the time and things in the world so I’m able to sit here and write this article.
It is sad sad thing to hear. Whether it rings true or not, we are at a time in our world where everything seems to be at the cusp of destruction and no return. One argument states that mass extinctions may occur in a 100 years but the next 20 years are what may cause it. I mean what kind of argument is that? The point is our path and direction is no where near where it should be to help the environment. A flash of time in 20 years is not going to convince me it is not an issue. Our choices and rapid ascension to human progress will result the downfall of the earth. Who knew it such a short time we could be the new asteroid on earth.
But we need to chug along and make decisions in our everyday lives to help and hope for the best since that is all we can do. All 7 billion humans need to come step up and make a difference. It starts with every one of us. #alllifematters
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