Posted
on August 21, 2013
According
to the Global Footprint Network, today is the day that the
human race has used up our year's quota of renewable resources. The
Earth cannot replenish
renewable resources as quickly as humans
demand them, and it cannot deal with carbon dioxide emissions as
quickly as they are...well...emitted! Even ignoring all the
non-renewable resources we are using, such as oil and coal, we have
now used up our year's supply of renewable resources.
And
there is still about one third of the year to go! (132 days left in
the year.) We are soooo overdrawn!
Spread
the word. Raise awareness. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Switch to solar
panels and an electric car.
Many
people shrug their shoulders. They feel that environmental problems
are way too big, and what they themselves can do is way too small.
But lots and lots of small actions add up to something big. I say, do
what you can, and don't lose hope!
 |
| We don't have a lot of back-up Earths. So we need to solve some problems we are making for the only Earth we've got. |
I've
been thinking that we (as in all humankind) need to work on two
fronts:
- Reduce poverty. Studies have shown that reducing poverty also reduces population growth. Of course, people who do NOT live in abject poverty live longer and use more resources per year...but the world will benefit by fewer people yet happier, healthier people.
Train
more scientists and engineers. More scientists and engineers mean
more knowledge and more inventions and more innovation. I think it
is inevitable that some of our environmental problems will be solved
with technological solutions, such as carbon-dioxide scrubbers or
asteroid mining. And the more knowledge, the better, because we can base our long-term, global
thinking on reality rather than on wishful
thinking.
Can
you work on one of these two fronts? Even if you aren't engaged with
fighting poverty or extending scientific knowledge, keep on
conserving resources, using renewable power, and reducing your carbon
footprint. And keep on talking about it to other people.
Also
on this date:
Here
are my Pinterest pages on August
holidays, historical
anniversaries in August,
and August
birthdays.
And
here are my Pinterest pages on September
holidays, historical
anniversaries in September,
and September
birthdays.
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