Lism has been singing my praises *blush* tis nice to feel appreciated though! and this is the promised hat picture

I’ve just finished studying extinction, which (unsurprisingly) is quite depressing at times. It’s definately fired up my environmentalist juices though.

Speaking of environmental issues tomorrow is Earthday. The main focus this year is tackling climate change and the whole global warming thing, something that is quite an emotive issue (check out what happened when Nick wrote about some information he found about global warming having stabilised/stopped since 1998 - this was his subsequent response.

Now, anyone who knows me will know that I consider myself an environmentalist. I’m not one of those who will go out and join protests, but I do my best to reduce my ecological footprint, and try and use this ‘blog to make people aware of various bits. However, I do have issues with the phrase “Stop Climate Change” because scientists know that the climate has, and never will be a constant. We are in an ice age (when there are permanent ice caps), that fluctuates between glacial and interglacial periods (we are in an interglacial period at the moment - ie it’s relatively warmer). I also have issues with the “stop the Greenhouse effect” idea. Without the Greenhouse effect that our atmosphere provides, life as we know it would never have existed! The problem with both, is our effect on these phenomena.

Essentionally I’m saying, that these catchy placard slogans should be defined and not dumbed down for the masses by the media. “Stop our effect on climate” and “Stop our addition to the Greenhouse effect” would be more apt. Unfortunately, they take up too much space on your average placard, aren’t as catchy to chant and probably have too many long words for the average sensationalist news publication.

At the moment, some people cannot take ownership - and perhaps not even totally relate - to the idea that we are effecting our environment so negatively. I think it almost is “too big” for some people to get their heads around. It doesn’t help that there is a continuous battle over whether the climate change is because of the activities of Homo sapiens or whether it’s part of the natural cycle of the planet.

What needs to be done, is make things more accessable. The way we are trashing our planet doesn’t just effect ecosystems - it affects our own health. Looking at it from a totally selfish viewpoint (ie: just the way it affects humans) reducing emissions, reduces the poisons that we inhale/absorb every day, and (I’m speculating now) may even reduce the occurance of such things as asthma. Not dropping litter makes the place look better. Decreasing the use of fossil fuels, means that they won’t run out AND could further progresses in renewable energy/fuels technology (ie: we can puff our chests out at the “achievements of mankind”). Recycling reduces the number of landfills we need - and probably generates jobs. Addressing issues that can affect people personally, may actually get things improved faster than saying “in X Y or Z number of years this will happen”.

Me? I want the generations that follow us to be able to live in a world where they can breathe clean air, where nothing is wasted (including water - the “western world” is bad for that one too) and where we live in harmony with the ecosystems around us (sounds corny, I know… sorry ’bout that). Whether or not we are effecting the climate, our pollution and destruction of the planet needs to stop.

Some people will probably consider me naive - some may consider me wrong. I know I have got myself in a few arguments about this, because people don’t necessary agree/understand/listen to what I am trying to say. I’m an Earth Sciences student. Every day, I learn more about the world around me, and I learn to treasure it’s diversity more and more. I learn to read around all the information and “read between the lines” of bias. I’m still learning. A year from now, my opinion may have changed about climate change. It will never change about reducing our impact.

There are plenty of environmental issues I haven’t addressed - partly because I am still making up my mind about them, mostly because I have talked enough for one day. I would be interested in hearing opinions - but please read what I have said first! Trolls beware