Greetings, dwellers of Earth, third rock from the Sun and so far the only known celestial mass to successfully harbor a great diversity of sentient and nonsentient life.
pic from csa.org
Yes, change is inevitable. What defines change? Any difference in defined state, be it infinitesimal or astronomical, from the previous state, relative or nonrelative, can be called a change. Be it a different pair of clothes after a day out in the beach, or that fistful of coins you get after paying the hotdog man with a 5 dollar bill.
pic from freephotosbank.com
Change can be good, and change can be bad (for lack of better words). In fact, the 'goodness' and 'badness' of change can only be defined from the impact the change has on the things change affects. For example, one can say that winning a billion-dollar-jackpot in a lottery may improve one's quality of life, but some may also think that such sudden increase in personal wealth and earthly belongings may corrupt the soul. Or using corn-derived ethanol for powering consumer automobiles may decrease dependence on fossil fuels, but it may increase the global price (and decrease the affordability and availability) of corn-based food, which is actually staple in some developing and undeveloped countries.It is high time for us, as willing or unwilling permanent residents of this planet, to open our eyes and see before us the change that has affected, in good and many bad ways, quintillions of interdependent organisms.
image from askehbl.wordpress.com
Of all the changes that has happened on the face of this planet, none has been as meticulously observed, recorded, and experienced, as the ones that were made by the hands of Earth's dominant sentient species: human beings. It is very hard to deny that most of the change we see in this world was made by sweat, blood and brainwaves of the upright-walking homo sapiens sapiens. While most species adapt to the environment they live in, we humans adapt the environment to suit our personal needs. We change the landscape in milliseconds while the same amount change can only be done by nature in thousands or millions of years. We make sure our way of life is preserved yet the natural way of life of other creatures, or maybe even entire ecosystems, are sacrificed.
By now, even though I have barely scratched the membrane on the surface of climate change, I most probably have bored you enough with my annoyingly everchanging tone and I may seem to have never driven you to the point I'm probably trying to make. Well it's time for a change then. I'll go straight to the point, and let others who are more qualified to illuminate you instead of myself.
With that said, here are some links I would like to suggest you to visit and have the contents digested for today:
Climate Change in Google Earth. With an introductory tour video featuring the Academy Award winning Nobel Laureate Al Gore.
Climate Change 101: Understanding and Responding to Global Climate Change. A series of brief reports with facts and figures by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
The 15 Best Carbon Calculators, by Mother Nature Network. Understand the concept of 'carbon footprints' before you analyze the mark you made on the ecosystem.
The Top 100 Effects of Global Warming by the Center for American Progress. Contents of this site apply mostly to residents of the United States and their way of life, but since American culture significantly influences the way of life in other parts of the world as well, I'd still recommend you give this site a visit even if you are from the The Gambia or even Norway.
350.org is organizing the International Day of Climate Action on October 24 2009. Find out what people all around the world are going to do on this day to take a stand on the safety of climate future.
Hopenhagen.org, a site where you can sign a petition of hope for the world. This site is made in with reference to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, hence the name Hopenhagen (thanks to Mae for pointing me to this one).
Oh, and also to join on this bandwagon, go to BlogActionDay.org today (October 15) and be united with other bloggers all around the world in sparking international discussion on global climate change. Most of the links I provided above was suggested to me after I registered my blog on the site.
With that said, please do join me in the discussion in the comments section below!
