"Whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father." --Colossians 3:17
Why would God have Paul write that or even "whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, you must do all for the glory of God" in 1 Corinthians 10:37 in the Bible? How would that even be possible to constantly have on your mind and try to carry out? Does He really expect us to brush our teeth and glorify Him while doing it?
Listening to a top climatologist who was a lead author for the 2001 and 2007 IPCC Scientific Assessment on Climate Change Friday, I began to realize just how much our "little" daily decisions make an impact on the "big" picture. Climate change due to anthropogenic, or human, causes is greatly affected by our very actions. Increased use of fossil fuels for vehicles, factories, and energy plants are a tip of the iceberg in how much we impact the earth's climate system.
The epic population on this earth is so great that our demand of the earth system is exhausting the very resources given to us. We have a higher need for energy to sustain our 21-century lifestyle, which exhausts our oil reserves. We have a higher need for food and shelter, which exhausts our crops and provides less and less area to harvest that food.
As we continue to use massive amounts of fossil fuels by burning them, we are changing the composition of the atmosphere. Adding CO2 into the atmosphere creates a stronger greenhouse effect which will lead to an increase of the average global temperature. Now, when talking about global warming and an increase in temperature, we're talking about the large-scale (global) and not necessarily local scale. Some areas are going to get colder while others will get warmer because of the wind and ocean circulations. Taking the average global temperature will show that the earth is in fact warming. Yes, part of this warming is due to natural variations that are currently taking place, but I think it is rather obvious that looking at the facts will show that we as people are increasing this rate of warming.
Carbon dioxide has a residence time (how long it stays in the atmosphere) of 30 years for the first 50% added, a few centuries for the next 30%, and many thousands of years for the rest. This means that each CO2 molecule emitted into the atmosphere will stay there for a total of at least 30 years for half of them added and centuries to thousands of years longer for the other half emitted. This is just one extra emission added to the atmosphere. Methane is another that is greatly enhanced by agriculture. It is a strong greenhouse gas and greatly enhances temperature. Don't get me wrong, there are many greenhouse gases naturally in our atmosphere and are vital to our sustainability of life on earth. Water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and CFC's are all examples of greenhouse gases. Without them, our average global temperature would be significantly colder. Anthropogenic reasonings are just increasing the concentrations of them in our atmosphere.
Not to mention that our oceans are also paying a high consquence of the added CO2 in the atmosphere. The oceans are a large sink, or absorbers, of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and by increasing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere automatically increases the amount the oceans take in. This will, and already is, greatly increasing the acidity of the oceans in some areas. Research recently done on the western coast of North America showed significant changes in pH levels in the Pacific ocean along the coast of California. This is already showing signs of breaking down the calcium carbonate structures that make up shells for organisms in the oceans.
Even as we are only barely seeing some effects of global warming now, as you can see, there is a MUCH greater risk for the future generations. We are investing in global warming by increasing the rate of this warming exponentially. Not recycling, continuously using gasoline, leaving lights on, throwing away unnecessary things are all examples of increasing the demand on our system that then decreases the demand of our resources.
We must make a change for our future generations and for the organisms that inhabit this earth. At the current rate, we are killing ourselves or at least our grandchildren by the very actions we are doing today. Change needs to happen in order to protect our earth.
One example of direct effects is the transfer of climate patterns across the globe. Some places that have perfect average temperatures, seasons, and precipitation in areas where the soil is perfectly matched to produce a specific crop will lose those climate conditions to other areas. These climate patterns will shift farther north in the Northern Hemisphere to areas that do not have the soil to meet the needs of the crop. What about non-industrialized countries or countries that do not have a strong economy? What will happen to those citizens and those people who solely rely on their harvest each year? Wait, are they even contributing to the enhancement of global warming? Why are they paying the highest consequences for the actions of those responsible? The ones in poverty are the ones contributing the least if at all and they are the ones who will suffer the highest consequences.
It is time to live up to our duties as humans on this earth and to stand up for the health of our world to protect all those that inhabit it. As Michael Jackson once said, "Make that change!"
