Climate change, global warming problems caused by greenhouse gases, pollution problems caused by rapidly changing weather conditions, are currently affecting many living things.
The issue of global warming or saving energy to help the world may not be the main subjects we study, but throughout more than half of our life in the various subjects we study, we often encounter these issues, whether in social studies, science, or art.
For example, activities related to Climate change, such as drawing a campaign to reduce the impact of global warming, or designing a poster to present about energy saving, or submitting a report about saving the world, or others. Then what have we learned and done so many activities? What has changed since that day?
“Humans are one of the species on this planet that can create climate change on Earth.”
We all know that the world we live in is made up of many creatures, both big and small, both discovered and not yet discovered. Humans are one of those creatures. But the wonder is that humans can change the world. However, human abilities are being used in the wrong way. The changes that are obtained are not beneficial but harmful instead.
“If we know that burning fossil fuels is bad, why do we still do it?”
In a TEDxStockholm talk , 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg shared that when she was 8 years old, she kept learning about climate change. Everyone knows what is threatening human life, but why do people keep doing the same things over and over again, without any controls, laws, or punishments?
“I only speak when it’s necessary, and I think it’s the most necessary now.”
Greta, when she was 11 years old, she found out that she had depression, causing her to stop talking, stop eating, and she lost more than 20 kilograms in just 2 months. But the story didn’t end there when she found out that she still had Asperger’s Syndrome, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ( OCD ) and the condition of not speaking in some situations. It is well known that people with this disease are quiet and speak very little. But for her, the current situation is the most necessary for her to come out and speak because none of the people who can speak well have spoken about this seriously.
“There’s nothing difficult about climate change. Nothing is ambiguous. Everything is straightforward. It’s just that people make it ambiguous.”
Greta ‘s condition has made her an outspoken person. Lying is hard for her, and it’s just as hard as socializing, like other people like to do. For her, being autistic sometimes seems more normal than most people. She dares to speak out directly about the climate change crisis that the world is facing because everything is so obvious. Even if you don’t try to look, you can see what the problem is. How can we stop it? Where can we fix it? But we make it look vague, difficult, and make connections that lead to confusion.
“Are we going to continue to build prosperity, or are we going to stop and change?”
The question is as simple as that. It’s a straightforward one. We need to start thinking about whether we stop trying to make a difference in the world or whether we continue to focus on progress as we do today.
For example, a wealthy country like Sweden would need to cut emissions by 15% each year to keep global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius per year, despite the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) saying a 1.5 degree Celsius target would do more for the planet.
“Reducing pollution is the straightforward answer, but it’s the answer we don’t talk about.”
Setting a target of not exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius will actually help the world more. And in practice, to be frank, we just reduce our emissions into the atmosphere. It’s the solution, and it’s the answer to saving the world. We would think that the prime minister or the president or the news agencies would have to report on these things because they’re really important. They’re the way the world is going. They’re the survival of all living things on the planet. But the reality is that everything is quiet.
“Almost no one talks about the current situation, how bad it is now.”
No one is saying that greenhouse gases are now on Earth. No news channel is reporting that even if we reduce our fuel burning, the temperature of the earth is still increasing by about 0.5-1.1 degrees Celsius. No newspapers are reporting that we are entering the 6th mass extinction. Almost 200 species are going extinct every day. The rate of extinction today is 1,000-10,000 times faster than the normal rate.
Rich countries must stop emission within the next 6-12 years so that poor countries can access development and improve their quality of life. We cannot expect countries like India or Nigeria to care about climate change if we, who have everything, choose to ignore it when we can do it without any difficulty.
“We think we know, everyone knows, but the truth is no, no one knows.”
Everybody who’s learned about this stuff thinks we already know that global warming is happening, that everyone else knows it too, like we like to say global warming, the end of the world, everyone’s talking about it, but the truth is, no, they don’t. You may not realize how bad it is right now. We say that cutting emissions will save the world, but our emissions are increasing every year. We’re heading towards extinction, we’re all part of it, and we’re not stopping. We’re still doing the same thing.
“No one spoke. No emergency meeting was called. No headlines were made. No breaking news was cut.”
Many of you might think that if it was really a crisis, we should have seen some signs, right? Not just floods that kill tens of thousands, subsidence, buildings collapsing on people, heat that kills people, or melting polar ice caps. You might think that these signs are not enough, right? Because they are not news that gets attention like celebrity gossip. We do not see proper control or discussion about the signs that the world is trying to send us, making us think that it is just a disaster caused by global changes. But the truth is, it is caused by all of us.
“If I’m lucky enough to live to have children, they’ll ask me, ‘Why aren’t you doing anything?’”
When we start thinking about the future, we can’t think about ourselves when we’re 100 years old, because we can’t think that far ahead. Greta said she thinks about herself when she’s 50, when she has children and grandchildren. Her children and grandchildren will ask her, why didn’t we start doing something now? Because in 50 years, it may be too late. Her children and grandchildren will not be able to fix or change the world. So everything we choose not to do today will affect our children and grandchildren in the future, and they will definitely question and blame their ancestors.
“Why should I study for a future that will never come?”
Greta said that when the school term started in August 2019, she chose not to go to school and protested in front of the Swedish parliament instead. Many adults told her to spend her time studying or, if she was so interested in climate, to study hard and become a geographer. But why study or learn about these things when we already have the answers? We already have the results of the studies. We already have the research that has the results. We already see the solutions to this problem. But no one is doing it. No one is acting on the answers we have received. So why should we study them?
“Scientific knowledge in the classroom may not mean anything to society.”
All the scientific studies and solutions that science gives society and politicians, they are worthless. Some people say that Sweden is a small country that cannot make such a difference. But if all the small countries think this way, it means that we are losing the cooperation of many people, probably more than the big countries that we expect them to do.
“Humans are creatures that need hope.”
In the past, people have given themselves hope by saying that it’s not that bad. We have wind power. We have solar panels. We have a circular economy. That’s the hope that we give each other because if what we’re doing is really helping, why is the global temperature still rising every year? Why can’t we stop our emissions? When there are so many other options available.
“What we need more than hope is action. Because when we take action, hope will come.”
We need to stop relying on giving each other hope. Comforting each other is not necessary now. We need to face each other, talk about the truth, the real situation, and the real impact on our world. When we start to take action, we will give each other hope instead of the theoretical comforting talk. From now on, the practice should be something that creates hope instead.
Conclusion
We can’t deny that at least once we’ve heard about global warming. But we may still feel that it’s far away. Or if we feel that it’s close, we don’t know where to start?
It may be due to various limitations in life, whether it is in terms of work, travel, living, or eating. Just these things that happen every day are already too tiring to handle. But everything on our to-do list in life can be changed. Even if it is just a little, it is the hope of the world.
These are very straightforward issues. We should not impose ambiguity on issues that we can see the solutions in front of us. Global warming should not be just a pamphlet or a poster or a placard. This should not be just a classroom learning. It should be important to make everyone aware and join hands by taking action. This is the real hope.
“Instead of waiting for hope, we should create it ourselves. Everything has to change, and it has to start now.”
The disarming case to act right now on climate change | Greta Thunbergta Thunberg
