The Ultimate Division, Us vs. Our Planet
A FOUR MINUTE READ
Since my first post, the focus of “Us AND Them” has been on lessening the divide between we humans. We have a long-established history of alienating each other. It seems we’re wired to focus on the small, superficial, or even contrived differences between us. And that division, more times than not, is at the expense of the underlying roots that could and should bind us together.
There’s always been a tendency for those with little skin in the game to push the costs of division into the backfield. Well, when it comes to the division between humans and this planet that we depend on, there is no backfield! Every living creature pays the price, whether it’s the air that we breathe, the water that we drink, or the inevitable conflicts that develop when we’re forced to share dwindling resources.
My Orbit is Evolving
Many years ago, more specifically around 2016, my retirement from medicine was just visible way out there on the horizon. I questioned what I would do with the remaining chapters of my life. I considered pursuing some niche in environmental science as it was becoming more and more evident that climate change had become an existential threat. But my education in and understanding of basic sciences was antiquated.
It was also around that same time that I started to notice concerted attacks on solid science, the legitimacy of our institutions, our democracy, and truth itself. At the heart of that onslaught was the realization that sowing division and distrust among us with misinformation could be advantageous to the rich and powerful. With all of that in mind, I set my sights on countering that division and the projected sense that it was everywhere.
As I hopefully conveyed in my recent observations from the polling place, it is far from everywhere!
But climate change and the division between us are not separate entities. They are very much interwoven, with greed as the greatest driving force, though there are many contributing factors. Neither division nor climate change are going anywhere until we communally address them as the existential threats that they are.
Climate Change + a Respect for Science = Hope”
Complex problems require complex solutions, and nowhere is this truer than with regards to climate change. Almost eight billion people have an invested interest in us addressing the worldwide degradation of our environment - which continues with abandon. Economics, technology, politics, and science are all competing for our attention as we pass by handholds and turning points on the slippery slope of global warming. We pay a price for ignoring any of these variables, but ignoring science in particular is akin to signing up for time-release suicide.
It is science, technology, greed, arrogance, and ingenuity that got us into this mess, and it is science, technology, insight, compassion, and ingenuity that can get us out of this mess - but only when a critical mass of us makes it a priority. I emphasize science because contrary to public opinion, actual science is the most objective and reliable of any of these factors.
Science is both a process and a body of knowledge. Only with corruption does it become a political tool. It is rigorous and systematic in nature. It is constantly being refined, questioned and confirmed via scrutiny, testing and retesting. Nothing is assumed in science.
True science doesn’t tell us what we want to hear. It shows us what we need to know to solve problems in this physical world.
People not immersed in science do not understand that committed scientists rarely sell books, own yachts, or have vacation homes in the Carribean. The lion’s share of research workers thrive on learning, not earning. These dedicated men and women devote their lives to the process of discovering what makes this universe tick from the sub-atomic level to nuclear astro physics.
Unfortunately, as we’ve all seen, the fruits of science are vulnerable to distortion and exploitation for personal or political gain. Nonetheless, it is science which has been at the core of every medical, and technological advance that we take advantage of each day.
Though science is always evolving, its study lends a predictability to our lives that only its finest practitioners can fully understand. The long-held belief that there would be a complete solar eclipse on April 8th of 2024 was not guesswork. It was predictable to the minute, based on the sum total of scientific research done over thousands of years!
Speaking of Solar Eclipses, try to wrap your head around:
The earth is an average of 93 million miles away from the sun and the earth’s total elliptical orbit around the sun is roughly 584 million miles in length! Now, take into consideration the fact that our moon’s orbit around the earth leaves it typically between 221,829 and 252,898 miles away from the earth. Keep in mind that the moon is traveling at 2,288 miles per hour. While juggling those variables, figure in the relative axis of the earth and about a dozen other variables and you, too, will be able to predict the next solar eclipse.
Even having the most elemental understanding of any of the physical sciences entails acknowledging that - none of us know what we don’t know.
There were no conspiracy theorists disseminating doubt about the predicted solar eclipse because actual facts and hard science are not disputable. The same way that an overwhelming majority of astronomers could agree as to the time and paths of the complete eclipse, so also an overwhelming majority of climate scientists have agreed that climate change is real and that humans are making serious and deadly contributions to it.
Denying that climate change is real is like denying that astrophysicists can accurately predict solar eclipses.
Stay tuned for - “Climate Change and Hope.”
If this post resonates with you, please share it, especially with “non-believers!”
Beautifully said, Mark. Every sentence rings true to me, every point is well-taken. Sadly, I fear you are preaching to the choir. So many people who need to understand this, already have their own "facts" and agendas and will choose not to engage with your post. And an astronomically large number of voting people are under-educated, and simply do not read. I see little hope, but I am old and tired of the struggle, I guess. Keep the faith, my friend! Someone has to.
Awesome Mark