Editorial: We Have to Start Something

I have always found the Kübler-Ross model, or the five stages of grief, very interesting. Each stage works itself throughout the human mind at different intensities and lengths until the next stage begins. The most important of all the stages would be denial, the first stage. The reason why this stage is so essential to grieving is because it marks the beginning of what the human mind will be enduring in the near future. Once you fall into denial there is little to no way out of grief without finishing all 5 stages.

So, what would one do to make sure they wont have to go through grief? Well, that answer is easy. You would either have to avoid denying the situation that would cause you grief and go straight to acceptance, or enter denial and stay there without any intentions of completing the cycle.

When it comes to environmental issues such as pollution or global warming most inhabitants of the human race has done exactly that. They have either accepted the Earth's problems as inevitable, or entirely denied their existence. This is not okay.

The earth is currently being threatened by the human acts of pollution, habitat destruction, and other unsustainable practices that are eating away at the earth. Awareness has to be spread.

Let me start with the definition of global warming itself. According to Google, global warming is "a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants." In other words, all these gases that humans are constantly releasing into the atmosphere are creating holes in the earths ozone layer. This layer acts as Earth's massive sunblock against the sun. Without it, harmful ultraviolet rays manage to reach Earth's surface and overheat the planet while harming the humans on it in the process. This is the thing that has been threatening the planet and its impact has been growing with every year.

Lots of people don't see the big picture in what global warming is really doing and nothing seems to be changing because there is too little awareness being spread over the topic. However, global warming is causing problems that are already negatively affecting every single human being on this planet, one of which includes melting ice caps.

Over the last 20 years 1 fifth of the sea level's increase was due to the melting of ice caps and another fifth was due to the thermal expansion of oceans due to heat. This rise in sea level can start to reach freshwater areas on land and cause damage to ecosystems because of the sudden addition of salt water, not to mention the destruction of floods when storms hit the coast and push the sea onto land. Global warming is also causing a change in weather and, in turn, temperature. Rain amounts have been decreasing lately which is the leading cause of droughts. That's four major problems and many more that come from one giant issue.

Is acceptance or denial still the way to go on this issue? Absolutely not. If we can manage to stop global warming we would be stopping other major problems that are directly linked to it. Even if it's just little things like spreading awareness through social media or walking to the park instead of driving, it can help. We have to start somewhere and the first step is to stop denying the global problems affecting us. We can save the world.

Photo credit: The U.S. National Archives via Foter.com / No known copyright restrictions

#globalwarming #ozonedepletion #sustainability #global