I grew up being aware of what climate change was, but it was never a topic that my parents talked with me in depth about. Understanding what climate change is and how it is affecting our planet is actually quite scary. Everyday I feel like there is a new way in which climate change is affecting our world, slowly, but gradually at a constant rate.
While reading A Fable for Tomorrow and Time Capsule Found on a Dead Planet, I realized that there are many people in our world that understand how large and serious of an issue climate change is. A Fable for Tomorrow is a fictional short story about a town that does not exist and has a sequence of events occur, but most the events that happen in the story do exist today. Time Capsule Found on a Dead Planet is a fictional story as well that discusses the different things we have created over time on our planet and how those various things have affected our planet. Both of these stories are very powerful because they are both relatable to our everyday lives even though they are fictional.
After reading both of these short stories, I was shocked by how many of the events they referred to related to events that I have heard about worldwide. In Time Capsule Found on a Dead Planet the author explains, “Towers of glass rose are its name, were destroyed and rose again. It began to eat things. It ate whole forests, croplands, and the lives of children” (Atwood 192). This quote made me instantly think of industrialization because that has been one of the main causes for climate change. It is really scary topic to think about because if people would have realized it was an issue sooner, then there may have been a way that we could fix it and prevent it from happening any longer.
I believe that climate change is an extremely important issue in our world today that most people are not taking seriously because people think that climate change isn’t affecting them negatively right now, therefore why should they care? Most people tend to think that there are more serious issues going on in the world that we need to be concerned about rather than climate change because they don’t realize how much we are actually being affected by climate change each and every day. I think that climate change is an issue that people are aware of, but they are not thinking of all of the negative long-term effects that climate change is going to cause for our planet. It worries me about what this planet will look like when we are no longer here and our future generations are on this planet. A Fable for Tomorrow and Time Capsule Found on a Dead Planet both effectively portray that our planet is only going to continue to get worse while implying that there may not be a planet here for future generations. The stories left me with the question, “Is it too late to fix our planet?” Some say yes, while others say no. The question remains unknown.
Work Cited
Atwood, Margaret. “Time Capsule Found on a Dead Planet.” I’m with the Bears. Brooklyn: Verso, 2011. 191-193. Print.
Carson, Rachel. “A Fable for Tomorrow.” Silent Spring. Houghton Mifflin, 1962. Print.
I personally do not think there is anyway to fix our planet because we have already done so much harm. Between transportation, showers, electricity, and more we have destroyed the atmosphere. I believe we can try to help the planet by taking quicker showers, carpooling, and remembering to turn off our lights. The story, A Fable for Tomorrow showed a life that was perfect and everything was in harmony. Then the other life was death and sickness and all black and grey. It is sad because in some places around the world life is great and others are bad. Climate change is starting to affect places but it will not hit home until it is our own community. I am scared that when something bad happens in San Diego I will not be ready for it. Overall, climate change is scary but being aware is the best thing.
I agree with your end statement that some people thinks it’s too late and some don’t. I think we’re almost in-between the two. It’s too late to stop climate change from happening, and I would argue it was never even possible, but I still think it’s possible to slow down the effects. It’s definitely a serious issue that not many people think of.
I really like your end statement. It made me open my eyes to what other people think because this is such a controversial issue that I don’t think many people are aware of. It needs to be more known and have people become more aware of. I really enjoyed your blog and your opinions were very interesting to me.
I really connect with the title of your post because that is something that I have been wondering for a while. It’s really unfortunate that there are a lot of people in this world that do not think that climate change is affecting them and therefore they do nothing to try to reduce their waste and harmful practices. Your last line really hits home because since we do have all of these people in the world that either pretend global warming and climate change are not happening or just do not care about it, is there really a way to save our future generations from horrible living conditions?
Great post and discussion! Thank you Casey for sharing these thoughts and posing such difficult questions. I tend to agree with Hannah’s response that there is probably no way to “fix” the planet if by “fix” we mean to go back to the way things once were (or maybe never were, but that we imagine they were). That is, there’s probably no way to stop climate change, though Anna makes a good point that we can slow it down and avoid some of the worst impacts. But maybe it would help to shift the question from “how to fix the planet” to “how to build a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world”–that way, when bad things continue to happen, people will work together. I grew up on the coast as well and am also scared that bad things will happen to the places I love. I think it’s useful to be able to share such feelings though, and I appreciated reading your post and comments.