It is time to become proactive and do whatever is humanly possible to stop the advancement of severe and unsustainable climate change.
In the last decade, land and ocean temperatures reached their highest level since record keeping began.
From the Himalayas to the Andes, to the Alps, to the Arctic, ice is melting at astonishing rates. Sea levels are rising at the rate of almost 3 inches per year bringing high tides, larger storm waves, and erosion of the coast line. Species are dying off at an unprecedented rate.
With an ever growing dense cover of CO2 heat up to temperatures unfit to support a healthy, creative life.
The fact is, we, you and I, need to rally together and put pressure on those perpetrating this destructive scenario. We need to let it be known we will not allow our planet, our way of life, to be destroyed.
We need to impress on the president, Congress, local legislators, Wall Street, financial institutes, and powerful money groups that we value our lives and our planet and will not permit this destruction.”
We should have paid attention when Native Americans tried to teach us to respect nature and that all things on earth relate to each other and depend on each other for survival.
What we all want is a peaceful world where no one is hungry; everyone is clothed and housed; where parents can care for their children and come home from work proud of having done a good days work and having been fairly compensated for it; where people can spend their last years in comfort, free from want: where life is not threatened by climate catastrophes, wars, and everyone can have their health needs attended to.
President Obama put out an Earth Day proclamation saying “nothing is more powerful than millions of voices calling for change.”
Let’s commit to being one of the voices that makes up the millions calling for change. It is up to us.
Sue Michalson is a resident of The Villages.
