Try and think back to when you were a child, perhaps on a family vacation, and you experienced the beach for the first time. Relishing in the feeling of squishy sand crystals as they flow up between your toes as you walk down the beach, and building a sandcastle with your hands, racing against the rising tide. Remember building that castle, creating a mote for the water, displacing sand so that it would stay sturdy, adding just the right amount of water so that it would stay strong. Hopefully that remains a happy memory, and one that can help you understand your role in flattening the curve of climate change.
The system is not broken. It has, in fact, produced the very results it was designed to produce. This is why things won’t, and shouldn’t, go back to the way they were because that way wasn’t working.
Our planet is in danger and, thankfully, it has had a bit of a reprieve with this pandemic. But it’s not over, we still have a long way to go. Think of climate change like the rising tide, eventually it will overtake the shoreline and wash everything away. Your way of life, your planet, is the sandcastle. What we do to safeguard that structure are our tools against climate change.
For some the message is clear, they are drawn to speak up about the environment. Seventeen-year-old Greta Thunberg felt that message at 15 and hasn’t stopped spreading the message about our need to fight the effects of climate change. We all can’t be Greta, she’s one in a million, but what we can do is educate ourselves about how we can directly change within our communities. And now is the time to act!
The more that we can control what is seemingly uncontrollable, the better we will be able to adapt to inevitable impacts. Additionally, the more that we can do together the better we will be within a crisis. There are some that believe that this was a single occurrence, but what it shows us is that we are all vulnerable and this can definitely happen again. Our fight to “flattening the curve” gives us a measurable, collective agenda that we can all stick to and work towards.
No one has the right answer, we’re all a bit blindfolded in the dark with this, but the medical and scientific professionals are giving us the tools to control what we can. Humans learn from our mistakes, our own experiences, and what knowledge or skill we gain we share with those we love. The more that we experience, the greater our understanding of the world around us.
There could be a talent or skill that each one of us contains that could spark the next step forward. Our duty now is to be inclusive, discuss with your communities and families, research facts and make decisions that better not only your own lives but those around you. We can and we must act now. What will you do?
