Many events throughout history have altered the way in which various species thrive. From the Big Bang, to the extinction of the dinosaurs, to our present warming of the climate, it seems as if a species eradication is inevitable. Although it is almost for certain that humans will go extinct someday, it appears as if Earth cannot sustain our rapidly changing, greenhouse gas emitting lifestyle, and that our species may be in grave danger of extinction in the near future. Our Earth has seen more changes in the last four decades than it has seen over the course of the last million years.
While reading the first chapter in Eaarth, I found myself questioning some of the statistics Bill McKibben presented. Although I have done research on global warming in the past, it was hard for me to accept the fact that all of the information was accurate. I do believe, however, that most of what he said was true, and perhaps I felt a great sense of fear and apprehension because I hoped the facts weren't true; that we aren't digging ourselves a very deep grave.
Because McKibben presented so many details in the chapter, I found it challenging to retain some of the information. There were no real solutions presented in the first chapter, but rather, the devastating statistics and facts on global warming's detrimental effects on the environment. To me, the author's most memorable statement was "the attempt to make it right usually makes things worse" (p. 46). By saying this, it is apparent that the author believes there may not truly be a "cure" to this global crisis. I hope that moving forward, McKibben describes some actions the human race can take to reduce the pace in which the rise in temperature destroys our planet. In addition, I am interested to know, if global warming is truly going to drastically alter our planet over the next century, why are we not doing all we can to prevent it?
I like how your post shared your feelings, and I totally agree there is this grave feeling that we are digging ourselves into a very large hole. And yes the history of the earth shows that humans are bound to go extinct but I do believe that our lifestyle doesn't have to kill our planet. I hope that the rest of the book proposes alternatives.
ReplyDeleteI was actually wondering the same thing, if global warming is such a huge deal right now, how are there not more programs trying to control it? Nothing could be more important than the extinction of the human species and yet global warming is a minimal topic in the debates the past couple months. Either Mckibben is exaggerating or we need to take this more serious very soon.
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way about the statistics and outcomes that Mckibben presented. I too couldn't believe the extent of of problems and the dire situation that we are currently in based on the statistics listed. Overall, the idea of no turning back in addition to not being able to fix the problems that we have created caused me to feel apprehensive (and sort of cynical) about the whole situation as well. I'm also hoping that as we get further into the book that Mckibben will provide us with some possible ways to save and to deal with this Eaarth that we now live on.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you all. We've had enough complaining. Climate change sucks but there's no use complaining about how we're all doomed. Let's talk solutions. What can we do to change climate change? What are the next steps? And how do we get this to be a talking point for the rest of the world?
ReplyDeleteYour statement is very true! I hope that in the next few chapters, McKibben delves into the solutions, rather than the facts. I am very interested to see what we discuss in class this evening regarding the facts and statistics surrounding global warming.
DeleteI wholeheartedly agree on the hope that McKibben's book provides more possible solutions or at least remedies for the situation. I felt that a lot of the first chapter focused on saying, "Times aren't pretty right now and the solution is going to be even less pretty." It then took 47 pages to convince us (and, in my case at least, it pretty much succeeded) that right now is teetering on the verge of a natural dystopia. I hope that going forward, McKibben proposes some ways for us to slow climate change to an eventual halt, regardless of how ugly he says his methods may seem.
ReplyDeleteI chose blog similarly to you in the sense that McKibben's first chapter was very disheartening. I do feel though that this book might roller coaster up and give us some positive outlooks as well! At least that is what I'm hoping for! But I appreciated the truth from your post.
ReplyDeleteDidn't it kind of surprise you that he could manage to go on for 47 pages with fact after fact about climate change? I know while I was reading I couldn't believe that there was this much information out there. His research must have been really terribly depressing. I do anticipate that he will eventually propose some solutions to give us some hope. I would think that the reason for writing such a book wouldn't be to just reprimand his audience but rather prompt us to act on this issue.
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