At the time of writing we are in the capital of NZ - Wellington. We didn't, however, drive here straight from Tauranga, but made a couple of days' detour to the volcano Mt Taranaki on the west coast on our way down. We'll write about what we experienced there in another blog post pretty soon, but now I'll just say a few words about what I've experienced in Tauranga while living there.
It is with some sadness I'm leaving the life in the Mount and the fund raising job for Greenpeace behind. The past three months have been pretty good for me. It was nice to settle down for a while after having traveled for nearly two months. It was nice to have a room of my own, and a BED of my own :) It's remarkable how important that bed is for making you feel at home when you think about it... Anyway, I also enjoyed living only minutes away from a gorgeous beach, and going to the gym regularly.
The Tauranga door team. It was fun working with u guys!From a long term perspective, however, the most significant thing for me during the past months has been my job. Even before becoming "the Greenpeace Man" who knocks on doors and talks about saving the whales and ancient forests, I had my concerns about the environment. Especially about climate change. But, like most people out there, I wasn't aware of the breadth of the destruction, nor how bad things really are. That has changed, and I am now horrified of the prospects of the future, even though there is still hope for this planet. I could probably spend the rest of the evening and the whole night telling you of all the wickedness going on and dropping one mind blowing fact after another, but I'm just going to settle for a few:
Did you know we only have 20% of the Earth's ancient (original native) forests left? Did you know that fish stocks all around the world are collapsing due to destructive fishing methods like trawling, and that by 2048 we will have no seafood left in our oceans? Did you know the north pole might be completely without ice cover summertime in five years time due to global warming? Did you know extreme weather conditions like floods and droughts due to climate change have massive economic impacts (e.g. the drought in the Waikato area in NZ a year ago cost the farming sector 1.24 billion dollars!)? Did you know that a third of all plant and animal life on Earth faces extinction by 2050 due to climate change?
I could go on and on, and I haven't even mentioned genetically engineered food or what's wrong with today's food business and all the additives and shit we are pushed to eat by the big food producers. When it comes to food, there is an excellent book by Felicity Lawrence I think everyone should read. It's called "Eat your heart out - Why the food business is bad for the planet and your health". It will change how you look at food, I promise you!
In all this doom and gloom, there is still a sliver of hope. Climate change is the perfect opportunity for a revolution of how we humans think of the environment in this modernised and industrialised world. The old system of exploitation and abuse is obviously not working anymore. Maximising profits with no regard for the consequences on the environment is not viable in the long run. We need to change, to evolve, before it's too late. Otherwise our children and grandchildren will grow up in a world where the oceans are dead, the ancient forests are gone, fresh water is scarce, an increasing number of people face starvation and the climate is unrecognisable.
The good news though is that the solutions to climate change already exist, we just need to implement them. We need to drastically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by, for instance, shifting to renewable energy sources and invest in novel energy efficient technologies. We have only 8-10 years to significantly reduce our emissions unless we want to risk dramatic and unpredictable changes to the climate. This is why the UN summit on climate change taking place in Copenhagen in December 2009 is so important. We need to make sure that the delegates of all nations going there take climate change seriously and are there to act and not just talk b#llshit. It's basically the last chance the leaders of the world have to tackle climate change, so you should get your voice heard NOW! It would be fantastic of you to join an environmental organisation like Greenpeace, but I'm not going to ask that of you since I know everyone can't afford it (although it often is a matter of choice). I am, however, going to ask of you to do what you can in your local community; put pressure on your local representative, sign petitions, recycle, be more energy efficient, reuse stuff, say no to plastic bags, favour locally grown and organic food, eat less meat, fish and dairy products, participate in protest marches for the environment and sign up for FREE emails from Greenpeace to keep you informed of what's going on (either through the international site or from your own national site - FI).
DEMAND ACTION! After all, it is ultimately not the planet we are fighting for, it is life - human, animal and plant - as we know it right now that is in jeopardy.
Now I know there are still you skeptics out there. In my job as a fundraiser I've talked to thousands of people. Some are deeply concerned, some ignorant, and some just have the facts mixed up. Climate change is no longer a matter of belief, it is a matter of fact. If any of you advocates-of-business-as-usual want a debate with me, bring it on! :)
Although my job for Greenpeace is currently at an end, it doesn't mean I don't care about the environment any more. The job has taught me so much it has become impossible for me to ignore what we are really facing. In the future I will most certainly be involved in environmental protection, if not professionally, then at least in my spare time. Why? If for nothing else, then because I don't want to some day have to face my grandchild's question:
"What the hell were people thinking?"
Photo credit: Roger Grace/GreenpeaceAny opinions and factual mistakes above are mine alone. I can dig the references for you if anyone wants to know where it all comes from.
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yes, I agree with you. we should think more about our nature and environment and how we live....
ReplyDeletenice you write again!
it was surely quite sad to leave Tauranga and Matt´s house. I hope you keep in touch. He is wellcome to Finland and our house when ever he´ll come.
tk
I agree on everything! Go you! And let's all be there in Copenhagen 2009 screaming at the top of our lungs.
ReplyDeleteAnother scaring fact is the melting of the permafrost in the arctic areas. Huge amounts of methane is leaking out of thawing peat land as we speak. Action must, as you said, be taken now!
Vivi: Exactly! That is why in part we only have 8-10 years to tackle this. After that the methane leakage is so huge climate change becomes a self-fueled thing that we puny humans stand without means to fight.
ReplyDeleteI really agree with all of you! It is scary how sort time 10 years actually is. And as it is well spoken, I have had a lot of it in school and I'm trying to do the best for the environment and everyone all the time.
ReplyDeleteAbout that question of grandchildren,this all begun hundreds of years ago and the bad thing is that the today's human don't realise that this is the same -and hundred times worse.
Hm, leaving someone you've really got to know it always sad but everyone have to move on. And I hope the rest of your travelling in NZ will be as fun and exploring as it has been until now. :)
Oh well.. I'll return commenting later on. Nice to hear from you again. I apologize about my own blog that is quite much more dead by now. I'll also do something about that... Bye!
The problem is that these are all predictions. Of course we should hope that the predictions for how we can save the planet are true and the predictions about what happen if we don´t are false, but the weather man have been wrong before. I´m just saying that predictions are a dangerous tool to use, and some people don´t buy them.
ReplyDeleteThe big question is, why do we even need facts to take steps like recycling and thinking about what we eat, and care about the world we live in?
And if only this would be the only problem on this planet...
Oh, now I´m being pessimistic, and that doesn´t help Moder Jord. I do believe we can save it and we will. Thanks Bunny for all the work you have done, it warms me to read and see passion in people.