04 Jun World Environment Day
Friday June 5, 2020
We depend on nature. We are part of nature. We breath, eat, LIVE thanks to nature… And we still mistreat it. To take care of our planet is to take care of ourselves. This is why we’ve celebrated the World Environment Day since 1974.
Every year the UN chooses a theme to raise awareness on the environment. This year’s theme is Biodiversity, which is the variety of life on Earth and the ecosystems where it exists and coexists. Everything is connected.
We all depend on each other and we need to understand that every member of this system has an important role in the way we live. Thanks to the perfect balance that exists in nature, we can get clean air, water, food and even medicine. Modifying or upsetting one element of this web can result in terrible consequences for everybody
Unfortunately, human activity has caused great damage to the environment. In the last 50 years, we have destroyed complete habitats, reduced wild animals populations by 60% and caused the extinction of entire species. Even the situation humanity is experiencing right now with COVID-19 is a clear message from nature that when we upset biodiversity, we are creating the perfect conditions for new diseases to thrive.
Information is power. According to the UN:
- 60% of all mammals are livestock. Only 4% are wild animals. The rest are humans.
Livestock produces greenhouse gas and represents 14.5% of the emissions caused by human activity. - 50% of corals have died. 90% will die by 2050. Coral reefs are home to 25% of marine life. They also help to protect coastlines from strong currents, storms and extreme weather.
- Marine plants produce more than a half of our oxygen.
- 1 million of the 8 million of species are threatened with extinction.
- Whales store carbon from the atmosphere.
- Birds and bats disperse seeds that enable forests to provide food sources.
- A mature tree absorbs 22 kilos of carbon dioxide cleaning our air.
- It would take 1.6 Earths to meet the demands that humans make of nature each year.
Biodiversity is what supports all life on Earth. To take care of it is to take care of all of us. There are many ways of getting involved. We can start by paying attention to our consumer habits, from the products we buy to the foods we eat.
Educating ourselves, our kids, our friends and our communities should be a priority. We all depend on our animals, plants and ecosystems to thrive on this Earth.
We only get one planet. We still have a chance.
If you are interested in this issue, here are some interesting and educational sources you can check out!
Our Planet (Netflix)
Chasing Coral (Netflix)
Before the Flood (Amazon Prime)
This Changes Everything
An Inconvenient Truth & Sequel (Netflix)
Sapiens: A Brief History of Human Kind