Iturned 75 in March. That means I probably wonB次元官网网址檛 be around to see the worst impacts of climate change or any other looming environmental disasters B次元官网网址 or the much brighter future that may emerge if we get off our butts to address the problems.
But IB次元官网网址檓 also a father and grandfather, and I care about my children and grandchildren and all the worldB次元官网网址檚 children.
Climate change is already having noticeable impacts around the world, including food shortages, increasing extreme weather events, shrinking glaciers and ice caps, and rising sea levels. WeB次元官网网址檝e already upset the atmospheric carbon balance, so the more we ignore the problem, the worse it will get.
ItB次元官网网址檚 unconscionable that we would condemn our children and grandchildren to an increasingly bleak future, especially when readily available solutions would help to resolve many other global problems.
It shouldnB次元官网网址檛 be up to young people to clean up the messes we have made. After all, we donB次元官网网址檛 even allow them to vote B次元官网网址 to choose who will make decisions on their behalf. And they will be most affected by the decisions made today. But because so many adults have abdicated their responsibility to the world and its children, youth are taking matters into their own hands.
One young person in the U.S., 16-year-old Alec Loorz, is even taking his government to court over its inaction on climate change.
He and others have launched actions against state and federal governments in an attempt to have the atmosphere declared a B次元官网网址減ublic trustB次元官网网址 that must be protected, a concept that has been used to clean up polluted rivers and coastlines.
B次元官网网址淲e will let the world know that climate change is not about money, itB次元官网网址檚 not about power, itB次元官网网址檚 not about convenience,B次元官网网址 Loorz says. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 about our future. ItB次元官网网址檚 about the survival of this and every generation to come.B次元官网网址
We owe it to our children and grandchildren to help clean up the messes weB次元官网网址檝e made. Parents must become eco-warriors on behalf of their children, because their future should be as important to us as it is to them.
Learn more at www.davidsuzuki.org.