Up until this point in my life, when people have talked about “climate change” or “global warming”, I haven’t thought much of it. It’s always seemed like a distant problem, one I won’t have to deal with in my lifetime. It seems abstract, much like a Jackson Pollock painting. There a
re so many different things going on that all contribute to one greater outcome, but thinking about (or in the case of the painting, looking at) it for too long begins to give me a bit of a jumbled mind and a headache. I can’t tell where it ends and I can’t figure out where it begins. I can’t seem to grasp the entire concept long enough to understand it. That scares me.
Though it’s only been two weeks into this course, I’ve learned far more about climate change and global warming than I’ve learned in my last 20 years of life. And quite frankly, it terrifies me. It’s a force of nature that, regardless of what we do to try and stop it, cannot be stopped. It’s going to happen anyway. We as a human race can work together to take precautionary and preventative measures to prolong the inevitable, but that’s it. It’s inevitable. Whether what we do prolongs it for 10 years, 50 years, or 100 years, I can’t say. But the thought that I may experience the harsh effects of climate change in my lifetime is a real possibility. That scares me.
The stories we’ve read so far have described a desolate, ruined planet. A planet that has harsh climates and abandoned cities. A planet that can’t maintain a human race. A planet that is far from what we know our planet to be. That scares me.
There have been so many studies done about global warming and the ways in which we can contribute to prolonging it. Those facts and statistics are some of the few that I actually find comfort in. Yes, it will still happen, and yes, it’s still difficult to grasp the entire concept, but knowing that there is at least something I can do to contribute is somewhat reassuring. Having been born and raised in Oregon, I’ve had the privilege of growing up in an area full of trees, rivers, oceans, beaches, mountains, and just about every other type of natural beauty one could think of. I’ve recycled my entire life, and I learned what a carbon footprint was long before I actually understood what it meant. I’ve spent much of my life trying to give back to this planet all that it has given to me, and I will continue to do so. My actions may be small, microscopic even, in the attempts to save our planet, but could you imagine the impact we would all have if everyone tried a little more? If everyone recycled a bit more? Or walked or biked a few days more than they drove? Or bought more food from local areas rather than food that has been shipped in from around the globe? It would make an astounding difference. That gives me reassurance that, although global warming scares me, there is hope that we can make a difference. That doesn’t scare me.
This blog spoke to me in the aspects of how the “fear” factor in global warming connects to how I feel about it, and I would assume many other people too. What I got from this writing is that the unknown of how this all began and how it will all end is frightening, but in a optimistic outlook, there are ways our society can try and work on saving our planet. The end to our society is not near yet, so why not try our best in helping what is controllable? You spoke about how all it takes is everyone committed to making small changes like riding bikes instead of driving sometimes or buying foods from local vendors which makes me think, what is stopping us from making these changes? This post is really relevant to the changes that could help global warming and climate change.
I really enjoyed the comparison you made between Global Warming and this Jackson Pollock painting. Climate change is something that really confuses me and I as well feel like there are so many aspects going on all at once, a lot like this painting. I as well wonder how much of a difference we could make if everyone actually did the things you spoke about such as riding to work and buying local food, it would be very interesting to see the differences that come however I feel as though this will never happen which is a shame.
I agree with you on the bigger impact we could have if we all take one step in erasing out carbon footprint. I was reading on the website keeporegoncool.org and it really emphasized that it cannot just be an individual effort, but it needs to a household/community effort. The many individual things you can do though to help erase your carbon footprint is astonishing!
Thank you for showing the link to the list. These tips can be extremely helpful towards helping reduce the global weirding. Although I doubt that the future is gonna be as bleak as having barren wastelands as far as the eye can see. Since the climate fluctuates, we’ll likely be seeing a global cooling trend in the future.
I also grew up in an environment where people believed global warming was happening and started doing things to help the environment. My dad was the one who explained what global warming was and I did not understand it in the beginning but this class has made me more aware of whats going to happen. When global warming first came about my dad bought a Nissan Leaf (an energy efficient car). We changed all our light bulbs to LED lights even our christmas lights. But I like how you attached the video of the carbon foot to give people ideas on what to do to help global warming.
I really enjoyed reading your article and thinking about the link between climate change and an abstract Jason Pollock painting; it’s such a complex topic to wrap your head around that you often times don’t know where to start. You bring up a good point in the last paragraph, where, if we all just do a little bit more, something as simply as walking instead of driving a few extra days of the year, we could make a HUGE difference.
Great read! The video was good and I agree about reducing carbon footprint emissions. Global warming is scary to many people but there is hope and I like how you emphasized that we could make a difference by doing little things. The way you ended each paragraph was really clever and it kept me engaged in the reading.