Don’t forget about the climate crisis

Today’s news headlines are dominated by worldwide wars and the antics of Elon Musk. Alara Johnston, 12, from The Lady Eleanor Holles School, says it is time to focus on what really matters — our planet.

All these current wars and battles are unnatural occurrences that are not meant to happen. We are not evolved, adapted or meant to fight wars and commit murder, but we are meant to look after our planet. The Earth is the one thing we cannot make a duplicate of. From a religious standpoint, God made humans to look after and protect the world, and from an atheistSomebody who does not believe in the existence of God or any gods. perspective, humans are the most powerful and advanced species, so the Earth’s preservation is our responsibility. Our Earth is truly special and holds eight billion of us, with no other planet capable of holding human life. Therefore, we must protect our only resort for life. As Greta ThunbergA teenage climate activist who inspired a mass environmental movement by schoolchildren in 2018, when she was just 15 years old. She has since spoken at the UN and been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize. said: “There is no Planet B.”

Current affairs, wars and new leaders are taking up the public’s attention, away from climate change and the urgent action that is needed.

We set a goal many years ago, not to go past 1.5C of global warming above pre-industrial levels. Yet we did pass it, and no one seems to care. Is this not a warning from Mother Nature? Have we found a new planet, and if we did, will we just throw Earth away? Was our goal and target ever important? And if it was, why have we forgotten about the emerging crisis?

We need to do something and take responsibility. We need to own up to our mistakes.

Is it simply insignificant that our descendantsPeople who are all descended from a certain ancestor or group. E.g. your children and grandchildren would be your descendants. are being left in a dreadful situation, with Earth on the verge of being destroyed? Is it more important that a celebrity has broken up with their partner, or whether TikTok is banned, or if there is a new movie on Netflix? At the moment, it seems like nearly everything is more important than climate change. That is hard to believe, with every human being and other organism’s extinction on the line.

I care because it is my generation that will be affected, not this current generation. All the other teenagers and I will grow up in an almost destroyed world, and instead of having successful careers we will all be needed to take care of the Earth. Climate change is only getting worse. At this rate all natural things will be completely destroyed, all because of our irresponsible actions and failure to open our eyes to our surroundings.

We must be accountable. This is a fact. This is the truth. We couldn’t look after the Earth successfully and did the worst job so far. We need to own up to our mistakes and fix them before it is too late. We must look at climate change with a new state of mind. We must take action now, not later. We must fix this now. We must stop this now.

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Keywords

Atheist – Somebody who does not believe in the existence of God or any gods.

Greta Thunberg – A teenage climate activist who inspired a mass environmental movement by schoolchildren in 2018, when she was just 15 years old. She has since spoken at the UN and been nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Descendants – People who are all descended from a certain ancestor or group. E.g. your children and grandchildren would be your descendants.