I believe protecting the environment is the most important action anyone could do. it is everyone's mandate because the earth is a gift to humanity and we have a responsibility to protect it. We have to protect it, conserve and preserve the planet for future generations by leaving it in a better shape than we met it. Maybe I am making light of the situation but I need you to understand that the planet Earth is a miracle.
Pale Blue Dot.
On Valentine's Day of 1990, the Voyager 1 space probe, a robotic spacecraft that left Earth's Orbit to explore space took a photograph of the planet Earth from a record distance. The distance was about 6 billion Kilometres (3.7 billion miles, 40.5 Astronomical Unit AU). In this iconic photograph, the Earth appeared as a lone dot against the enormous backdrop of space among scattered sunlight. The apparent size of the planet was less than a pixel and the photography was famously called the Pale Blue Dot.
The Earth may appear as an insignificant blue dot from 3.7billion miles away in space but in reality, it is our home, it is where our entire civilizations thrives. I once chanced on a composite satellite picture of the Earth produced by NASA and I saw something truly incredible. When you cycle through the images quickly, you find the planet breathing in an extraordinary fashion. In fact, the planet breathes and that is the miracle it is, It houses and sustains.
- 400,000 species of plants.
- 230,000 species of fishes
- 5416 species of mammals
- 10,000 species of birds.
- 17,802 species of reptiles and amphibians and
- 7,400,000,000+ humans
[Source](Earth is a miracle video by Good Magazine)
All of these are clinging to this pale blue dot, a breathing rock submerged in space. We are inextricably bound to the planet so destroying it means we are destroying ourselves.
How we are affecting and Changing the planet
- Humans dump 40 billion tonnes of carbon pollution into the atmosphere per year, turning the atmosphere into an open sewer.
- Human activity generates 1.3 billion tonnes of solid waste per year. The figure is projected to rise in the next years.
- In the five year period between 2010-2015, there was 42 oil spills of 7 tonnes and over, resulting in 33,000 tonnes of oil lost to the environment, 86% of this amount was spilt in just 10 incidents(oil Tanker Spill statistics 2015)
- People cut down 15billion trees each year, The global tress count has fallen by 46% since the beginning of human civilization
These are just a few ways that we are changing the planet and it has real life consequences. Most of these changes are irreversible and the reality is that we can make our choices but we cannot choose our consequences.
The Planet Earth Needs us and We also Needs it, This the more reasons why we must join In the fight against Pollution and Climate Change resilient.
The Healthier our environment, The more happy years we enjoy on plant earth.
Indeed, the planet Earth is a miracle.
Thank you