By Alexis Steagall, News Editor
The year is 2050: the last remains of glaciers crash down into the desolate ocean, releasing a mighty roar of destruction. The marine wildlife that once populated the vast sea have either been poached by greedy fishermen, poisoned by the leakage and dumping of harmful chemicals, or choked on pollutants and plastics. The rural land remains barren, other than the scattered graveyard of skeletal forests. Decaying trees stand frozen in a trance, broken limbs outstretched in a final call for mercy. The air no longer provides a way to sustain life for any living being, as it is laced with toxins. Iron skeletons of corroding concrete jungles still tower above all else, weaving in and out of the poisonous haze. The ground cracks and crumbles as the temperature continues to rise, baking the perfect disaster. The entire Earth, once brimming with beautiful humans and wildlife alike, now echos with the eerie sound of silence.
Rewind: present day, 2019. The Earth’s fate rests uneasily in the hands of humankind. The Washington Post concludes that overall temperature of the Earth has risen by 1.8 degrees within the past century. National Geographic scientists predict this will be the hottest year yet. Heat waves, wildfires, droughts, flooding, and violent storms threaten to tear apart the land. It is unsettling to see the world as we know it tiptoeing over the mistakes humans have made. Humans are so easily intoxicated by greed. The need for more land, more power, more water, more goods, more technology, and most importantly more money. It’s just a matter of doing whatever it takes to get what they want, and for most, the environmental cost of these things doesn’t matter. In fact, there is an environmental cost to any want and need on this Earth. Take water for example, where does it come from? How does it get collected and distributed? It is so easy to overuse a resource simply because the awareness of the cost isn’t noticed.
Addressing the human footprint is a must when it comes to educating the entire population. The first step in preventing the end of the world is simply becoming aware of the human as an individual and the amount of resources it takes to live comfortably. As the U.S. population grows, research shows that the amount of consumption has more than tripled in the past 50 years. A singular human aids in filling a landfill by throwing away an average of 4.6 pounds of garbage per day as well as 80-100 gallons of water each day.
Now is the time to make a difference. No matter how small the effort may be, it is important to address ways to shrink the human footprint. Whether it’s talking with peers, asking the school board how the student body can help go green, or asking parents and family members to support local food services. Not everyone will listen, but the Earth sure will. Destruction, as chaotic as it seems, starts small. But so does restoration.