Saturday, January 21, 2017

Eaarth - A New World



I'm not usually the type of person to be very interested in statistics, but the startling statistics in Bill McKibben's book Eaarth really make me sit up and take notice. He presents the blunt truth that humanity has drastically altered our world. The Earth that used to exist before us is gone. We can never get it back.

The arctic ice melting over time
Just speaking about the carbon levels in the air, the ideal amount that McKibben puts forth is 350 parts per million. But as of 2007, we've past that point by about 40 ppm. Read more about that at 350.org. These carbon levels are wreaking havoc worldwide. Global temperatures are rising, causing ice melt in the poles, raising sea levels, creating droughts and food shortages, acidifying our oceans, and killing animals, just to name a few effects. People in every walk of life are effected, from farmers to businessmen.

Frankly, this is terrifying. McKibben points out that only a few years ago, this issue was primarily spoken about in the future tense, employing rhetoric about future generations and grandchildren to get people to take action. Unfortunately, we've come to realize that this is a problem for now, and it's only going to get worse if we don't do anything.

A simplified version of our climate crisis.
Our annual average carbon ppm as of 2013.
I'll be the first to say that McKibben's rhetoric is very effective, but as of yet, very few references to solutions have been brought forward. Given I've only read the first chapter of the book, this is to be expected. But a call to action without any steps to take is kind of like leaving water to boil without the intention of making
tea; pretty pointless.

I'm open to continuing this book, (I mean, I kind of have to for this class, but that's beside the point), but right now, all I'm getting out of it is a case of melancholy.

That's all for now, write to you soon!

Danielle K


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5 comments:

  1. UnknownJanuary 22, 2017 at 8:06 PM

    I feel the same way. Hard to keep reading because of how depressing it all is--but at the same time it feels like a call to action.

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    1. Danielle KJanuary 23, 2017 at 4:39 AM

      I definitely get that feeling. Like I said, it's only the first chapter, so hopefully there are more concrete solutions as we move through the book.

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  2. UnknownJanuary 23, 2017 at 7:11 AM

    I feel the same way, he has a way of writing that creates such an urgency which is what I think is so uncomfortable because we know the facts, we have heard these statistics in one way or another. It just goes back to the actions we feel called to do, once we realize we are going to be apart of the consequence and the consequences are going to affect us as well.

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    1. Danielle KJanuary 23, 2017 at 7:49 AM

      You totally hit the nail on the head, Bethel. I really do think it's his style of writing, as well as the fact that his voice as an author is so clear in the book, that make it so uncomfortable.

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    2. UnknownJanuary 25, 2017 at 7:59 PM

      Yes, uncomfortable is a good word to describe reading these chapters. And the conversations about resources and money and the benefits of living in the U.S. can also be uncomfortable.

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