Greta Thunberg At The Parliament

Is It Really A Good Idea To Focus On Climate Change When There Are Real And Pressing Local Issues Facing The World?

The new face of the Climate Change Movement is a young girl from Sweden, named Greta Thunberg. She insists that the issue of Climate Change is the most pressing issue facing the world today, but is it truly? Scientists are not all in agreement, and many pronouncements have been made over the years that are in direct conflict with one another. For example, in 1970, scientists thought we would be experiencing another Ice Age by this day; in 1990, the focus was on saving the rainforests from total destruction; and the current issue has changed from global warming to climate change in general.

Greta Thunberg at the Parliament Image Credit- European Parliament

Greta Thunberg at the Parliament Image Credit- European Parliament

What is Climate Change, exactly? Since the world has been experiencing record cold winters in the recent past, as well as hotter than normal summers, along with rainier rainy seasons than ever before and chaotic storms that cause massive flooding, there is mass confusion among the public about what Climate Change actually means. The disadvantage of focusing on Climate Change is that this has become a strictly political issue. There is no way for the average person to truly make a difference when it comes to this overarching issue.

However, it’s obvious to residents of Staten Island, who look at oil refineries polluting the air day and night, and of Port Arthur, Texas, home of one of the largest oil refineries, that pollution is really a bigger issue. Pollution of the air causes many to become ill and suffer from cancers and early deaths, and ocean pollution is responsible for some of the extinctions that are occurring, both from human factory waste and garbage dumping beyond the boundaries of countries where there are no regulations.

When it comes to Climate Change, this is a touchy political issue. So, it might be a better idea for environmentalists to focus on issues that they can actually make concrete change to, such as deforestation, elimination of crucial habitats, and pollution. It has been postulated that some animals have only a small habitat that they do and can live in, and that when that habitat is destroyed, the species that rely upon it are destroyed as well, and become extinct. These are issues that the average person can play a part in solving, in small and large ways, from personal choices in what businesses to support or not support, whether to bike or drive to work, and dietary choices as well (a vegetarian diet has a smaller carbon footprint than a standard carnivorous diet, for example).

To learn more about this important issue, visit StatenIslander.org

There are no comments yet

Why not be the first

Leave a Reply