Monday, May 12, 2008

Inheriting the earth or the dearth

This article by Simon Tisdall, published in the Guardian Weekly, made a strong impact on my thoughts today. In the print version, it is entitled "World's poor will inherit the dearth" and subtitled "Western consumers must take a share of blame for looming global malnutrition." I pull out one quote:

nine out of 10 natural disasters are now extreme weather-related. Rising
sea levels, flooding, crop failures, famines and water shortages are creating 50
million more migrants every year. Yet climate change itself is directly linked
to the carbon-emitting, gas-guzzling, high-end consumerism of developed
countries that now fret most about energy cost

I was pondering the nature of faith, of how I or anyone else chooses what to be convinced by amongst literature we read. Although I struggle to articulate it clearly, I am sure that emotions play a big part in what we find convincing even when we think it is actually science which is winning us over.

But after reading Simon Tisdall's article, I feel that if there is even a chance that global warming is human-induced, then I have a moral obligation to reduce my ecological footprint. Fifty million displaced peoples per year.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Lemme get this straight - you won't vote Green cause they are against coal mining, and you feel you have a moral obligation to halt global warming... is this right?

Why not cut to the chase and simply say "I'm a hypocrite.". Far easier that way.