Sound frightening?

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     It’s not the first time we’ve been warned. 

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     The first Earth Day was celebrated back in 1970. It was created in response to the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, in which over 3 million gallons of oil killed more than 10,000 sea creatures, and according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “brought 20 million Americans out into the spring sunshine for peaceful demonstrations in favor of environmental reform.”

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     It’s a beautiful concept - a day in which people from all over the world gather to celebrate the one thing we all have in common: Mother Earth!

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     And yet, here we are now. Only 50 years later and we somehow find ourselves in the midst of a mass extinction. Reports of rising sea levels due to climate change, predictions of the massive migrations that will follow, and an already-occurring global water crisis have still resulted in no real action. 

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     The science is there. The science is real. We are simply choosing to ignore it - and it’s not only our governments which are at fault.

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     How many of us continue to consume meat, knowing the horrors of factory farming? How many choose to buy fast fashion, knowing its dark origins? We throw our trash on the ground and continuously hoard our plastic Publix bags, knowing they take up to 1,000 years to fully decompose. We vote for politicians who deny facts, and consistently choose the economy over the environment. 

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     The Earth is suffering. Wildlife and those who live in more remote parts of the world are, too. We are approaching the point of no return, and if we don’t act now, we - along with future generations - will pay for it. 

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     Because, as the Native American proverb goes, “Only when the last tree is cut down, the last fish eaten, and the last stream poisoned, you will realize that you cannot eat money.”

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Sources

1. “Real and imminent' extinction risk to whales.” Check it out: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54485407/. (Oct.10, 2020). 

2. “US formally exits Paris pact aiming to curb climate change.” Check it out: https://apnews.com/article/us-leaves-paris-agreement-climate-change-1331bc30021756454dda8eb7ff3c1075/. (Nov.04, 2020). 

3. “The Paris Agreement.” Check it out: https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement/.(Nov.4, 2016)