What's Scary?

What is scary in today's world? Finding out the producer of "Once Upon A Time" wants to kill off every Frozen character this season? Taylor Swift finding a stable boyfriend so she doesn't have any more angst-y songs? Dropping your iPhone into a sewer and losing your prized selfies? The zombie apocalypse anyone watching "The Walking Dead" thinks is inevitable?

My favorite zombie, from Hocus Pocus.

What's really scary, I think, is the condition of our planet. I'm talking CLIMATE CHANGE, people. It is real, and it is real bad. Scientists have long agreed that the planet can tolerate a rise in temperature of 2 degrees. On our current path, looking at trends in CO2 emissions, we will have caused almost a 5 degree increase by 2100. Not. Good. 
  

(I got this chart from vox.com, where I also found some very interesting articles: 
Threats to Americans , How America is Already Affected by Climate Change, and Why America will Fail on Climate Change . I certainly recommend reading, or at least breezing, through them.)

So what does an increase in global temperatures mean? 

• More extreme weather, such as tornadoes, droughts, floods, wild fires, dust storms, and hurricanes. 
• The impact of extreme weather and warmer temperatures on crops, livestock, and fisheries will cause food shortages. 
• One-fourth of the Earth's species may be endangered by 2050, and extinctions will destroy whole ecosystems. Remaining species must drastically adapt. Will ours be able to?
• Glaciers will continue to melt , causing sea levels to rise, and many people will be without fresh water, displaced from their homes, or without power.   
• Ocean acidification will release even more CO2, speeding up global warming. Oh, and not to mention, massacring all sea life. 
• Warmer temperatures and dust storms will help spread diseases, such as malaria. 
• There may be wars over natural resources. 
• The next ice age may be sooner than later. 

Are you scared yet? 

Another scary side of this is that no one is paying attention. The graphic below shows the most popular topics on Twitter and Facebook for 2014. To see that people are so infatuated with television and music makes me scared to see what it will take to get them to care about the planet. 

It's also scary to think about your reaction as you read this. I may know you, I may not. You may think I'm a senseless hippie. You may not find my Hocus Pocus picture funny. But that doesn't matter. It's not about me, it's about all of us. And the question is: do you care? Do you care that our resources are being compromised? Do you care about all the extinctions that are happening/will happen? Do you care that there will be extreme and dangerous weather patterns? I want my children and my grandchildren to grow up in a safe world, don't you?

Just concentrate on caring about the environment as much as this guy is concentrating on his throwing.
(I really just wanted an excuse to put this picture up.) 

So how do we make this less scary? Do something. And by that, I mean try to be more "green". Reduce the amount of electricity you use. Don't be wasteful with commodities. Use less water. Recycle. Here's a list of 50 Great Suggestions- definitely read it!! All you need to do is think about what you're doing, what you are wasting, and even a small change helps! Please, please, don't let this cry fall on deaf ears. 

Long story short: stop scaring me, and start caring about your Earth. 

Just so you know, polar bears can swim, but they need the ice to hunt, and they've become an effective poster child for global warming. Check out Polar Bears International! 

Bonus links I found for kids, or those of us who think like one:
Climate Change for Kids
Saving Energy For Kids


Thank you all so much for reading another one of my posts; I hope you find them informative, and at least a little bit entertaining!