The State of the Planet
The ominous prophecy about global warming is really scary, it makes people shiver. Maybe the planet will be destroyed because of the lifestyle developed in the Western world. It is stunning to think about what kinds of species and ecosystems that will exist in the future for our children and grandchildren. Maybe none of us will live long enough to see what we have done to the planet. I guess this is what most of us hope for.

The human interference has a major and damaging effect on the earth, which leads to a catastrophic rate of change. A long list of the environmental stress exists. We observe shrinking forests, expanding deserts, sinking watertables, disappearing species, rising temperatures, deglaciation, rising sea level etc. Huge changes to the biological fabric of the planet have occurred. If we continue in this way scientist predict that five globes are needed to support the Earth’s population, already in forty-five years.

We are living above our resources, the Earth is not enough. Our advance and the strong economic growth have put great marks on the planet. About 96 percent of all the glaciers are decreasing rapidly, garbage heaps are growing faster and the number of natural disaster has quadruplicated in the last forty years. Today the natural disasters do not have the greatest impact on the planet, but the human. It is therefore the human that will dictate the future course of life.

People have not been aware of the cost of their consumption and therefore has an environment-friendly lifestyle not been especially attractive. Furthermore does not everyone feel that they have a responsibility for common utilities like air, water and biological diversity. But many people are now aware of the hazardous development and want to improve the health of the planet. We have seen evidences of the fact that we are affecting the way the planet operates.

It is a bit said that catastrophes need to occur before we try to solve the problems. The latest catastrophes, such as the tsunami, have worked as wake up calls. Most of us now realize that our lifestyle is not durable and lots of people try to contribute to a sustainable environment and development. I hope this insight is not too late, maybe we still have time to save the planet. So that future generations can continue to live and enjoy all the things we have taken for granted for so long.